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THE 

HIGH LIGHTS 

OF 

ARKANSAS 
HISTORY 




BY 



DALLAS Tr HERNDON 
•I 



Special Edition Printed for DistTibxtion 
By 

THE ARKANSAS HISTORY COMMISSION 






Copyright, 1922 

by 

DALLAS T. HERNDON. 



WHY? 

There is in the history of the State of Arkansas no 
want of the sort of material which makes for a flavor of 
individuality. In the choice of things chosen for this 
narration of events — chosen and arranged to tell the 
story of the growth of enterprise and what not wrought in 
Arkansas in the space of nearly four centuries since the 
time of DeSoto — the aim has been to choose those things 
which have made the history of Arkansas different— 
which give it its flavor of interest quite its own. But 
last, and first also — first as the motive for ''playing up" 
the ''high lights" of the history of Arkansas like street 
lights, hung one at every street comer, that those who 
pass may see the way plainly — the story of Arkansas is 
told here step by step, one thing at a time and everything 
in the order of its doing, each as something done apart 
from the many other processes helping always to make 
the complex story of life and growth complete, so that 
any who should like such a work may have by him a handy 
manual of the really significant facts concerning the his- 
tory of the State. 



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DECEIVED } 

APR 2 1^23 

DOCUWtNTS u.V.olOr 



HIGH LIGHTS OF ARKANSAS HISTORY 
1541-1921 

Hernando de Soto (1541). 

The first white men entered what is now the State 
of Arkansas June 18, 1541. Charles V, King of Spain, 
commissioned Hernando de Soto, 1538, governor of Cuba 
and general of Florida. DeSoto landed in Florida May 
31, 1539, near where the city of Tampa now stands, with 
a military force of a thousand men. He had been com- 
missioned by the king to explore Florida, as then the 
whole Mainland of North America was called. After due 
preparation the expedition set out for the interior. Dur- 
ing the next two years, from the middle of 1539 until 
June, 1541, they traveled more than a thousand miles, 
through the present States of Florida, Georgia, Alabama 
and Mississippi. Like the other early Spanish explorers, 
DeSoto 's first aim was to discover mines of gold and 
silver, whence no great care was taken, perhaps, to write 
out a proper journal of the expedition. Luis Hernandez 
de Biedma, one of the party with DeSoto, kept a brief 
diary. A Portuguese adventurer, who signed himself 
"A Gentleman of Elvas," also of the party, wrote a nar- 
rative of his adventures. From these two accounts, as 
the principal sources of information, the route of DeSoto 
in his wandering east of the Mississippi has been traced 
with tolerable accuracy. That he crossed the Mississippi 
River on June 18, 1541, is certain. But the exact point at 
which he crossed is in doubt. And equally uncertain, for 
the most part, are the course and extent of his wandering 
after he had crossed the great river. The weight of evi- 
dence seems to favor, as the most likely place of crossing, 
the site of the present city of Memphis. It is certain 
that the expedition penetrated far into the interior of 
Arkansas. Sometime during the fall of 1541 the ex- 
plorers discovered '* a lake of very hot and somewhat 



6 High Lights 

brackish water"; of which, says the ** Gentleman of 
Elvas," the horses drank so much **that it swelled their 
bellies." Thus it is practically certain that they were 
then at the now famous Hot Springs. The winter of 
1541-1542, from November to March, they spent in winter 
quarters at a point on the Ouachita Eiver, near the south- 
east comer of Ouachita County, Arkansas. DeSoto died 
May 21, 1542, near the mouth of Red River in the present 
State of Louisiana. 

Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet (1673). 

After DeSoto, the next white men who visited any 
part of the country now within the State of Arkansas 
were the Frenchmen, Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit mis- 
sionary, and Loius Joliet, a fur trader and explorer. Some 
time prior to 1665 Marquette was sent by the Jesuits 
as a missionary^ to the Indians about the Great Lakes. 
Having heard from the Indians stories of a great river 
to the westward, he laid the matter before the governor 
of Canada, who gave Marquette permission to fit out, *'at 
his own expense," an expedition to go in search of the 
river. Marquette and Joliet, accompanied by five boat- 
men, set out from Michilimackinac May 13, 1673, in two 
large canoes. From Lake Michigan they entered Green 
Bay, ascended the Fox River for a space, crossed over to 
the Wisconsin River and floated down to the Mississippi, 
which they reached June 17, 1673. Continuing down 
stream, they arrived, early in July, at a native village 
where an old Indian told them that ''the next great 
village ' ' was * ' called Arkansea. " *' We embarked, ' ' says 
Marquette in his journal, ''early the next morning with 
our interpreters and ten Indians who went before us in a 
canoe. Having arrived about half a league from Ar- 
kansea, we saw two canoes coming toward us." The ex- 
plorers were kindly received and treated as friendly visi- 
tors. They rested in the village, perhaps two or three 
days, when, on July 17, (1673), they left to return to their 
homes. Passing up the Illinois River, they traveled 



Arkansas Histoey 7 

thence by land over to Chicago River, which they de- 
scended to Lake Michigan. Marquette died May 18, 1675, 
at a mission situated near the site of the town of Luding- 
ton, Michigan. 

Robert Cavelier^ Sieur de la Salle (1682). 

LaSalle, on his voyage from Canada down the Mis- 
sissippi, went ashore at the mouth of the Arkansas River 
March 12, 1682. King Louis XIV, of France, had grant- 
ed him "letters patent" on May 12, 1678, authorizing 
him to continue the explorations of Marquette and Joliet, 
to find *'a port for the king's ships in the gulf of Mexico, 
discover the western parts of New France, and find a way 
to penetrate Mexico. ' ' Accompained by Henri de Tonti, 
his lieutenant, Jacques de la Metarie, a notary, Jean 
Michel, a surgeon, Zenobe Membre, a misionary, and a 
number of Frenchmen '* bearing arms," LaSalle set out 
from Michilimackinac early in the spring of 1682. Thence 
to the mouth of the Arkansas the party followed closely 
the route of Marquette and Joliet westward and down the 
Mississippi. They went ashore at the Chickasaw Bluffs 
and sent out a hunting party to procure game for food. 
Pierre Prudhomme, one of the hunters, having lost him- 
self in the woods, was found only after a search of nine 
days. LaSalle then built a small fort there, called it 
Fort Prudhomme, and left the lost hunter in command. 
LaMetarie, the notary, says in his journal, ''On the 12th 
of March we arrived at the Kapaha village of Arkansa." 
They visited several other Quapaw villages in the vicin- 
ity, made friends of the Indians, who, through their chief, 
acknowledged that the country belonged to the King of 
France. After resting several days, the explorers pro- 
ceeded on their way down the Mississippi. 

L0UISU.NA, Province of France (1682). 

LaSalle, having arrived at the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi, there, on high ground situated a short distance up 
the river, erected a cross bearing the arms of France and 



8 HioH Lights 

the following inscription: ''Louis le Grand, Roi de 
France et de Navarre, Reque; Neuvieme April, 1682." 
By dint of this act, France laid claim, from April 9, 1682, 
to "all the country drained by the great river and its 
tributaries." At the same time, LaSalle called the whole 
region Louisiana, in honor of Louis, the King. Thus the 
present State of Arkansas became part of Louisiana and 
a French possession. 

Henri de Tonti^ Founder of the First Settlement 
IN Arkansas (1686). 

LaSalle, in 1682, after his discovery of the mouth of 
the Mississipi, returned to Canada and sailed thence to 
France, whither he w^ent to bring out to Louisiana a party 
of colonists. To Tonti, whom he left, meanwhile, in the 
Illinois country, LaSalle had given a large tract of land 
situated near the mouth of the Arkansas River. In the 
spring of 1686 Tonti received orders to go to the mouth 
of the Mississippi to meet LaSalle, who had sailed, in 
July, 1684, from France with 290 persons in four ships. 
Whereupon Tonti, with 40 of his men, left Fort St. Louis 
and went down the Mississippi. After waiting near the 
mouth of the river for some time and hearing nothing of 
the fleet, he returned to the Indian villages on the Arkan- 
sas River. There he left ten of his men to establish a 
post. Of this first settlement attempted in the lower Mis- 
sissippi Valley, Tonti sajs in his account of it: "My 
companions, delighted with the beauty of the climate, 
asked my permission to settle there. As our intention 
was only to humanize and civilize the savages, by associa- 
ting with them, I readily gave my consent. I formed the 
plan of a house for myself at the Arkansas. I left ten 
Frenchmen of my company there with four Indians, to 
proceed with the building, and I gave them leave to lodge 
there themselves, and to cultivate as much of the land as 
they could clear." This was the beginning of Arkansas 
Post . 



Arkansas Histoby 9 

The Catholic Church Granted Lands (1689). 

Henri de Tonti, founder of the first settlement sit- 
uated at Arkansas Post, deeded November 20, 1689, to 
the Catholic Church a large tract of the land granted him 
there by LaSalle. By this gift he hoped to aid in making 
of the settlement a permanent colony. And during the 
next three years he supported there, at his own expense, 
a missionary, whose business it was to look after the 
spiritual welfare of the natives and instruct them in the 
art of agriculture. 

John Law's Colony (1718). 

John Law, son of a banker of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
was granted, 1718, by the Duke of Orleans, then regent 
for Louis XV of France, a tract of land on the Arkansas 
River near the trading post which Tonti had established. 
This grant, described as twelve leagues square, contained 
82,160 acres. Law 's adventure, variously known as ' * The 
Western Company," ''The Company of the West," ''The 
Mississippi Bubble," etc., w^as conceived as a scheme of 
colonization. He agreed to settle 1,500 colonists upon the 
lands granted him, and to maintain a military force 
ample to protect the settlers from the Indians. A few 
months later, in 1718, one LaPage du Pratz brought over 
to Louisiana 800 colonists, part of whom settled on Law's 
lands. Du Pratz acted as overseer of Law's plantations. 
M. Levens came over as manager and trustee of the 
grant, which Law caused to be fashioned into a duchy. 
Other colonists, consisting of Alsatians and Germans, 
were sent over in 1719; and the same year, some 500 
negro slaves were imported also. Upon the failure of 
Law's financial speculations in France, the colonists 
abandoned the settlement; some returned to Europe; 
others setttled along the Mississippi not far from New 
Orleans. When LaHarpe, the French explorer, passed 
up the Arkansas in 1722, there were then only forty- 
seven settlers on the grant. At the time of his second 
visit in April, 1723, the settlement was entirely deserted. 



10 High Lights 

Arkansas Post Made Permanent Settlement (1722). 

The Duke of Orleans, regent for the infant King of 
France, Louis XV, commissioned in 1722, Bernard de la 
Harpe to explore the Arkansas River and ''establish a 
permanent post at the Arkansas. ' ' Such a place was in- 
tended to serve "as a connecting point" between settle- 
ments in the Illinois country and others in lower Louis- 
iana. It was proposed, also, as a result of the establish- 
ment of such a trading post, "to facilitate the introduc- 
tion of horses, mules and cattle from the Spanish prov- 
inces." In September, 1722, La Harpe, having repaired 
and improved the stockade, stationed at the Post of the 
Arkansas a regular garrison, under the command of 
Lieutenant de Boulage. La Harpe says, in his report of 
the expedition, that "prior to this time the place had been 
only a trading and military post among the Indians." 
Indeed, there is hardly any doubt but that, since the first 
settlement there by Tonti in 1686, the post had been from 
time to time utterly abandoned, sometimes several years 
together. La Harpe' visit marked the beginning of its 
civil history. And thereafter, throughout the periods of 
French and Spanish possession of Louisiana, the post 
continued a center of trade and government. 

France Ceded Louisiana to Spain (1762). 

By the treaty of Fontainebleau, in effect from No- 
vember 3, 1762, France ceded Louisiana, including the 
present State of Arkansas, to Spain. The treaty of 
Fontainebleau put an end to the French and Indian war, 
as the Seven Years was known in America; which war 
had begun in 1753. France, as a result of the war and 
the treaty of peace, lost all her possessions on the conti- 
nent of North America. England acquired Canada, in- 
cluding that part of Louisiana south of the Great Lakes 
and east of the Mississippi River. At the same time and 
place — Fontainebleau, 1762 — France ceded to Spain, by 
secret negotiations, all that part of Louisiana west of the 
Missississippi. The first governor, under Spanish rule, 



Arkansas History 11 

was Don Antonio de Ulloa. Ulloa arrived in New Or- 
leans, the residence of the governor of the province, 
March 5, 1766; at which time Spain actually took pos- 
session. 

Arkansas Post (1765). 

Captain Philip Pittman, of the British Army, visited 
Arkansas Post in 1765. In his observations, entitled 
''Present State of the European Settlements on the Mis- 
sissippi," as published in 1770, he says of the post: **The 
fort is situated three leagues up the river Arkansas, and 
is built with stockades in a quadrangular form ; the sides 
of the exterior polygon are about one hundred and eighty 
feet and one three-pounder is mounted in the flanks and 
faces of each bastion. The buildings within the fort are, 
a barrack with three rooms for the soldiers, commanding 
officer's house, a powder magazine, a magazine for pro- 
vision, and an apartment for the commissary, all of which 
are in a ruinous condition. The fort stands about two 
hundred yards from the water-side and is garrisoned 
by a captain, a lieutenant and thirty French soldiers, in- 
cluding sergeants and corporals. There are eight houses 
without the fort, occupied by as many families, who have 
cleared the land about nine-hundred yards in depth; but 
on account of the sandiness of the soil and lowness of the 
situation, which makes it subject to be overflowed, they 
do not raise their necessary provisions. These people 
subsist mostly by hunting, and every season send to New 
Orleans great quantities of bear's oil, tallow, salted buf- 
falo meat and a few skins." 

Founder of City of St Louis Died at Arkansas 
Post (1778). 

During the Spanish occupation, actually from 1766 
to 1800, the Arkansas Post grew in importance as a 
center of trade. The government of the Arkansas coun- 
try, known as the ''Parish of Arkansas, in the Province 
of Louisiana," was under the immediate control of a 



1^ HioH Lights 

commandant, who resided at the Post. Besides the com- 
mandant and his soldiers, who resided in the fort, a quite 
considerable town had grown up, outside the walls of 
the military post, of settlers engaged in trade and agri- 
culture. Pierre Laclede, the founder of St. Louis, and an 
enterprising merchant, maintained a branch storehouse at 
the Post until his death there in 1778, 

Don Joseph Valliere, Commandant at Arkansas 
Post (1785-1790). 

Of the many commandants who, during the French 
and afterwards the Spanish occupation of Louisiana, re- 
sided at Arkansas Post, Don Joseph Valliere is perhaps 
best known. He was ordered there with the Sixth Span- 
ish Regiment, of which he was commander, in 1785. He 
continued in control of the affairs of the District of Ar- 
kansas until 1790. In the meantime, he had married a 
daughter of Lewismore Vaugine, who resided at the Post. 
On June 11, 1793, he was granted, by authority of the 
Spanish government, a large tract of land situated on the 
White River. He died in 1799, perhaps at the Arkansas 
Post. The grant of land to Valliere was but one of many 
such made by Spanish authorities to individuals. And 
like many another such princely grant, the claim of his 
heirs to the land, after many years and much troublesome 
litigation, was disallowed by the courts of the United 
States. 

Birth of First Child in Arkansas Born of English- 
American Parentage (1800). 

"In the early part of the year 1800 William Patter- 
son, Sylvanus Philips and Abraham Philips," says Jewell 
in his History of Methodism in Arkansas, *' moved from 
Kentucky to Arkansas and settled three miles south of 
the St. Francis River, at a point known as the Little 
Prairie, on the bank of the Mississippi River. John Pat- 
terson was born at this place during this year. He was 



Abkansas Histoby 13 

the first white child born in this part of the State, and 
probably the first child born of American parents in the 
State. In the summer of 1800, William Patterson cnt the 
large cane where the city of Helena now stands, and built 
a rude warehouse for storing goods and provisions for the 
acommodation of barge shipping, as there were no steam- 
boats at that day." The Sylvanus Philips, to whom this 
writer refers, was a member of the first General Assem- 
bly of Arkansas, which met at Arkansas Post in Febru- 
ary and October of 1820. The county of Philips, organ- 
ized that year, was named for him. 

Spain Traded Louisiana to France (1800). 

By the Treaty of San Ildefonso, secretly negotiated, 
Charles IV, of Spain, agreed October 1, 1800, to restore 
Louisiana to France, in exchange for "an Italion king- 
dom of at least one million inhabitants. ' ' The Treaty of 
San Ildefonso was confirmed by a second treaty, con- 
cluded at Madrid, March 21, 1801, though the deal was not 
finally settled until October, 1802 , when Charles IV 
signed the Treaty of Madrid. Thus Louisiana was re- 
stored to France, and Spain acquired in exchange for her 
title the Italian State of Tuscany. These negotiations, 
and the resulting restoration of Louisiana to France, 
were instigated by Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Con- 
sul of the Kepublic of France, as a measure of effecting 
the realization of his plans to rebuild and expand the 
colonial empire of France. 

Louisiana Purchased by the United States (1803). 

The province of Louisiana was purchased by the 
United States from France April 30, 1803. The purchase 
was brought about by the insistence on the part of the 
United States upon the right of its citizens to the naviga- 
tion of the Mississippi River. As long ago as 1795 Spain, 
by treaty, had "agreed that the navigation of the said 
river, in its whole breath, from its source to the ocean," 



14 HiaH Lights 

should be free to citizens of the United States. Thus, 
when it became known that Napoleon, by intrigue, had 
effected the return of Louisiana to France, public opinion 
took alarm in the United States, especially throughout 
the western country, at what President Jefferson called 
a ''policy," on the part of France and Spain, "very om- 
inous to us," And when, on October 16, 1803, the Gov- 
ernor of Louisiana suspended "the privilege which the 
Americans had enjoyed of importing and depositing their 
merchandise and effects" at New Orleans, Mr. Jefferson 
wrote the American minister at Paris to sound the French 
Government on the matter of ceding to the United States 
the Island of Orleans, including the city of New Orleans. 
A few days later Mr. Jefferson sent James Monroe to 
France, with $2,000,000 at his disposal, for the purchase 
of the island, to cooperate with Robert Livingston, the 
minister, in conducting the negotiations. In the mean- 
time, beset by multiplying difficulties in Europe, Na- 
poleon abandoned his dream of rebuilding the colonial 
empire of France, in so far as regarded the holding of 
Louisiana at all events. Thus, Talleyrand, Napoleon's 
Prime Minister, offered to sell the United States the 
whole of Louisiana, explaining that without the island 
and city of New Orleans the province would prove worth- 
less to France. And, after some misgiving and hesitation 
on the part of the Americans, the terms of the purchase 
were drawn up in a formal treaty, known as the Treaty 
of Paris, in which the United States agreed to pay 80, 
000,000 francs. Eventuallv, the total cost amounted to 
$27,267,621. 

William C. C. Claiborne, First American Governor 
OP Louisiana (1803). 

President Jefferson appointed William C. C. Clai- 
borne Governor of Louisiana on October 31, 1803, the 
same day that Claiborne was named by the President 
as one of the commissioners to take over the province on 
behalf of the United States. On December 20, following, 



Abkaksas History 15 

in taking formal possession of the country, the new execu- 
tive issued an address to the people of Louisiana. In it 
he assured them of the inheritance of freedom under the 
United States and the security of their property and re- 
ligious liberty. 

The Stars and Stripes Raised at New Orleans (1803). 

The formality of giving possession of Louisiana to 
the United States was done at New Orleans on December 
20, 1803. President Jefferson had appointed General 
James Wilkinson and William C. C. Claiborne, the latter 
then governor of Mississippi Territory, commissioners to 
take over Louisiana from Pierre Clemant Laussat, the 
French commissary. On November 30, 1803, the Mar- 
quis de Casa Calvo, as the representative of the Spanish 
Government, transferred the province to Laussat, who on 
December 20, 1803, transferred it to Wilkinson and Clai- 
borne. Then the Stars and Stripes were raised in New 
Orleans, for the first time, in token of the sovereignty of 
the United States over the territory west of the Missis- 
sippi River. Thus the domain of the United States was 
extended westward to the summit of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and Arkansas became a part of the American Re- 
public. 

Control of Upper Louisiana, Including the Present 
State of Arkansas, Transferred to the United 
States at St. Louis (1804). 

Although the transfer of Louisiana to United States 
was made on December 20, 1803, the actual exercise of au- 
thority over the upper or northern part of the province, 
which included Arkansas, did not begin until March 10, 
1804. On that day Major Amos Stoddard, of the United 
States Army, assumed the duties of governor of upper 
Louisiana at St. Louis. In his account of the occasion, 
Major Stoddard says: ''The ceremony of transfer from 
Spain to France occurred between the hours of eleven 



16 High Lights 

a. am. and twelve m., March 9, 1804. The Spanish flag 
was lowered and the standard of France was mn up in 
its place. The people, although conscious that the sov- 
ereignty of France was being resumed but for a moment 
and simply as a necessary formality in the final transfer, 
nevertheless could not restrain their joy at seeing float 
over them once more the standard which even forty years 
of the mild sway of Spain had not estranged from their 
memory. So deep was the feeling that, when the custom- 
ary hour came for lowering the flag, the people besought 
me to let it remain up all night. The request was granted 
and the flag of France floated until the next morning over 
the city from which it was about to be withdrawn for- 
ever. At the appointed time on the next day, March 10, 
1804, the ceremony of transfer from France to the United 
States was enacted. The flag of the French Republic was 
withdrawn and the Stars and Stripes waved for the first 
time in the future metropolis of the Valley of the Missis- 
sippi. Thus St. Louis became perhaps the only city in 
history which has seen the flag of three nations float over 
it in token of sovereignty within the space of twenty-four 
hours." 

Louisiana Divided; Aekansas Attached to the Tebei- 
TORiAL Government op Indiana (1804). 

On March 26, 1804, President Jefferson approved an 
act of Congress dividing Louisiana into two parts, viz: 
The Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana. 
The former embraced what is now the State of Louisiana 
and the latter included all the remainder of the purchase. 
Under the provisions of this act the District of Louisiana 
was made subject to the territorial government of Indi- 
ana, of which Gen. William Henry Harrison was then 
governor. Some historians state that by this act all of 
tipper Louisiana, which included the present State of 
Arkansas, was made a part of the Territory of Indiana. 
This is a mistake. The act merely regarded the District of 
Louisiana, or Upper Louisiana, as it was commonly 



Arkansas History 17 

called, as unorganized territory and attached it to Indi- 
ana for judicial purposes, etc. On October 1, 1804, Gov. 
William Henry Harrison, of Indiana, and the judges of 
the territory visited St. Louis for the purpose of holding 
a session of the court and making laws for the District of 
Louisiana. They enacted fifteen laws, ''identical with or 
adapted from those already in force in the old Northwest 
or Indiana Territory." The District of Louisiana was 
was also divided into five subdistricts of St. Louis, St. 
Charles, Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve and New Mad- 
rid. Colonel Samuel Hammond was appointed Lieutenant- 
governor or commandant of St. Louis ;Colonel Return J. 
Meigs, of St. Charles ; Colonel Thomas B. Scott, of Cape 
Girardeau; Major Seth Hunt, of Ste. Genevieve; and 
Pierre Antoine Laforge, civil conmaandant of New 
Madrid. 

District of Louisiana, Including Arkansas, Created the 
Territory of Louisiana (1805). 

An Act of Congress approved March 3, 1805, made 
over the District of Louisiana into the Territory of 
Louisiana. The same act named St. Louis as the 
seat of the new territorial government. The Presi- 
dent appointed James Wilkinson, a native of Mary- 
land, governor ; Joseph Browne, of New York , secre- 
tary; John B. C. Lucas, of Pennsylvania, John Co- 
burn, of Kentucky, and Rufus Eaton, of St. Louis, judges. 
In 1805 Aaron Burr visited St. Louis. The circumstances 
of Burr's visit confirmed public opinion in the suspicion 
of Willrinson as aiding the alleged conspiracy of Burr 
to establish an independent empire in the southwest. For 
this, and his arbitrary acts as governor, President Jef- 
ferson removed him from offipe March 3, 1807, and ap 
pointed in his stead Captain Meriwether Lewis, a native 
of Virginia. 



18 High Lights 

District of Arkansas Formed (1806). 

The Legislature of the Territory of Louisiana, 
by an act approved June 27, 1806, created the Dis- 
trict of Arkansas out of territory taken *^from the 
southern part of New Madrid District." The boun- 
daries of the new district, as afterwards fixed by 
proclamation of Governor Meriwether Lewis, were de- 
fined as all of New Madrid District south of "a line be- 
ginning on the Mississippi River opposite the second 
Chickasaw Bluff and continuing west indefinitely." The 
southern boundary was given as the thirty-third parallel 
of north latitude. Stephen Worrell was appointed com- 
mandant, or deputy governor, of the new District of 
Arkansas. 

Civil Government Organized in the District of 
Arkansas (1808). 

Though created more than two years before by the 
Legislature of Louisiana Territory, no steps were taken 
to organize civil government in the District of Arkansas 
until August 23, 1808. On that day Governor Meriwether 
Lewis appointed the following officers for the district: 
Harold Stillwell, sheriff; John W. Honey, judge of the 
probate court, clerk of the court of common pleas, and 
recorder of the district; Joseph Stillwell, Francis Vau- 
gine and Benjamin Foy, judges of the court of common 
pleas; Perley Wallis, deputy attorney-general for the 
district; Andrew Fagot, justice of the peace, notary 
public and coroner. Benjamin Foy was also empowered 
to act as justice of the peace. 

Osage Indian Treaty (1808). 

On November 10, 1808, a treaty was concluded be- 
tween the United States and the Osage Indians, by which 
the latter relinquished all claim to most of their lands 
now included in the State of Arkansas. The Osage tribe 
claimed all that part of the State north of the Arkansas 



Arkansas History 19 

Biver. And by the treaty of 1808 they ceded all of the 
said territory except a narrow strip north of the Arkan- 
sas and east of the present western boundary. 

Hemphill's Salt Works — the First Manufacturing 
Industry (1811). 

The earliest factory, of which any definite informa- 
tion has been obtained, was John Hemphill's salt works, 
established at Blakeleytown, Clark County, in 1811. 
Blakeleytown was a small settlement on the Ouachita 
Eiver a short distance below Arkadelphia. Salt was made 
here by the Indians for many years before the first white 
settlements were founded in Arkansas and some writers 
think it was at this point that DeSoto made salt in the 
winter of 1541-42. Hemphill continued the busines until 
his death in 1825 and his heirs carried it on until about 
1850. 

The New Madrid Earthquake (1811). 

The first shocks of the New Madrid earthquake were 
felt December 16, 1811. The area most violently shaken 
by the disturbance was, it seems, some thirty miles 
square, of which the town of New Madrid was situated 
near the center. Less violent effects of the disturbance 
were manifest hundreds of miles around, especially along 
the Mississippi. The "sunk lands of the St. Francis" 
river basin, situated in Craighead, Mississippi, Poinsett 
and other counties of northeast Arkansas, still remain as 
visible evidence of the quake. The following account was 
written from contemporary sources: "Eye witnesses 
have told us that these concussions were divisible into 
two classes, in one of which the motion was perpendicular, 
whilst in the other it was horizontal. Of these, the latter 
were the most destructive ; when they were felt the houses 
crumbled, the trees waved together and the ground sunk. 
The undulations at such times were described as resem- 
bling waves, which increased in elevation as they ad- 



20 High Lights 

vanced, and when they had attained a certain fearful 
height, the earth would burst and vast volumes of water 
and sand and pit-coal were discharged, as high as the 
tops of the trees, leaving large crevices or chasms where 
the ground had burst. Lakes of twenty miles in extent 
and more were made in an hour, whilst others were 
drained, and whole districts were covered with white 
sand, so that they became uninhabitable." On February 
17, 1815, Congress passed an act for the relief of the 
earthquake sufferers, by which they were given certifi- 
cates that entitled them to locate new homes on the public 
lands. Such claims or patents issued to claimants under 
the said act of Congress, became known as "New Mad- 
rid Certificates." 

The Beginning of the Presbyterian Church in 
Arkansas (1811). 

There seems to be no doubt that the first Prot- 
estant sermon preached in what is now the State of Ar- 
kansas was delivered at Arkansas Post in 1811 by the 
Eev. John P. Carnahan, a minister of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian faith. Mr. Carnahan subsequently became 
a resident of the Pyeatt settlement at Crystal Hill, some 
twelve or fifteen miles up the Arkansas from Little Rock; 
there his daughter was married to Henry Pyeatt on Feb- 
ruary 10, 1820. This pioneer preacher conducted the first 
camp meeting in Arkansas. It was opened on Friday, 
May 24, 1822, and continued for five days, *'with good 
results for the cause of Christianity." The meeting was 
held on the farm of Major John Pyeatt. Another camp 
meeting was held at the same place, beginning on May 15, 
1825, in which Mr. Carnahan was assisted by the Eev. 
Robert Sloane. The first regular Presbyterian church to 
be organized in Arkansas is still in existence and is known 
as the First Presbyterian Church of Little Rock. It was 
organized on Sunday, July 27, 1828, by Rev. James W. 
Moore, who has been called the ''Father of Presbyter- 
iansim in Arkansas." Mr. Moore was bom at Milton, 



Abkansas History ^1 

Pennsylvania, September 14, 1797, attended the common 
schools in his native town, united with the church in 1820, 
and in 1824 entered the Theological Seminary at Prince- 
ton, New Jersey. Upon completing his studies he waa 
licensed to preach and on November 21, 1827, was or- 
dained as a missionary for Arkansas. On January 25, 
1828, he arrived at Little Rock and preached his first 
sermon the following Sunday. The church organized in 
July consisted of only seven members. This little congre- 
gation worshiped in various houses until the next sum- 
mer, when a small chapel was erected on the corner of 
Main and Second Streets, which was used until 1847. 
Mr. Moore died on January 25, 1873, after exactly forty- 
five years in the Presbyterian ministry in Arkansas. 

The Name of Louisiana Territory Changed to the 
Territory of Missouri (1812). 

The Territory of Orleans was admitted to the Union 
April 8, 1812, as the State of Louisiana. The adoption 
of the name Louisiana by the new State necessitated a 
change of the name of the then Territory of Louisiana. 
Accordingly Congress passed an act, approved June 4, 
1812, to the effect that thenceforth the Territory of Louis- 
iana should be known as the Territory of Missouri. 
Though the rest of Missouri was divided the same year 
(1812) into five counties, the District of Arkansas still 
continued as such for a time. In the Territorial Legis- 
lature, which met in December, 1812, the first Territorial 
Legislature of Missouri having a house of representativs 
who were chosen by the people, the District of Arkansas 
was not represented. 

Bounty Lands Reserved for Soldiers (1812). 

By an Act of Congress, approved May 6, 1812, six 
million acres of the public lands were reserved for vet- 
erans of the War of 1812. Of these so-called bounty 
lands, there were two million acres set apart in a body in 



22 High Lights 

what is now Arkansas. The lands surveyed and reserved 
for this purpose embraced the triangular tract situated 
between the Arkansas and AVhite Rivers, beginning at 
the Mississippi. 

Arkansas County Created (1813). 

At an adjourned, or second session of the first 
General Assembly of Missouri "all that part of Missouri 
Territory south of New Madrid County" was created 
the county of Arkansas. The act creating the new county 
was approved by Governor William Clark December 31, 
1813. The boundaries of the county, as then defiined, 
included nearly the whole of the present State of Arkan- 
sas; which had, according to a census taken in 1814, a 
total male population of but 827. The second General 
Assembly of Missouri met on December 5, 1814. To this 
assembly was elected Henry Cassidy from Arkansas 
County, who sat as its first representative in the Legis- 
lature. 

The Entrance of Methodism (1815). 

The Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Church, 
which met at Bethlehem, Tennessee, October 20, 1815, or- 
ganized Spring River Circuit as part of the Missouri 
District. The Conference failed to appoint a regular 
"rider" of the new circuit, but before the close of the 
year a "supply" w^as found in the person of Eli Lindsey, 
a pioneer preacher, who lived then on Strawberry River, 
near the mouth of Big Creek. Though there had been, no 
doubt, sermons preached upon occasions before 1815 in 
what is now the State of Arkansas, it is certain that the 
organization of the Spring River Circuit was the first 
work "laid off" there by a conference of the church in 
regular manner. It is said of Lindsey that he attended 
all the house-raisings, log-rollings and frolics, and after 
the labors and festivities were over would ask permission 
to say a "few words." Then he would preach a short 



Arkansas History 23 

sermon and in\dte those present to attend regular ser- 
vices at his next appointment. His circuit extended from 
the Little Red River northward to the Missouri line. 
There were no church buildings and he preached wher- 
ever he could find a suitable place. At the close of the 
year 1815 he reported a membership of ninety-five in his 
circuit. That part of the Tennessee Conference lying 
west of the Mississippi River was organized as the Mis- 
souri Conference in 1816. The conference formed also 
that year the Hot Springs Circuit. The appointments for 
Arkansas were : Spring River Circuit, Rev. Philip Davis ; 
Hot Springs Circuit, Rev. William Stephenson. These 
two circuits included all of the present State of Arkansas. 
At the close of the year the two circuit riders repored 
190 members. The first conference for the District of 
Arkansas was held at the Ebenezer Camp Ground in 
Hempstead County, September 6, 1822. The licensed 
preachers in the district were: James Blackburn, Gil- 
bert Clark, William Harned, Benjamin Ogden, Daniel 
Rawles, Joseph Reid, Salmon Ruggles, Thomas Tennant 
and John Tollett. John Scripps was presiding elder of 
the district, Gilbert Clark was chosen secretary of the 
conference, William Stephenson, Francis Travis and John 
Henry were chosen elders, and Green Orr was licensed 
to preach. The General Conference in 1836 ordered the 
establishment of the Arkansas Conference, the first ses- 
sion of w^hich was held at Batesville, Bishop Morris pre- 
siding. The members of the conference at its organiza- 
tion were: Thomas Bertholf, Fountain Brown, Henry 
Cornelius, John A. Cotton, Erastus B. Duncan, Jesse A. 
Guice, Robert Gregory, John N. Hamil, John Harrel, 
John L. Irwin, Charles J. Karney, Burwell Lee, Moses 
Perry, Charles T. Ramsey, Richmond Randle, William 
Ratcliffe, John H. Rives, Winfree B. Scott, A. D. Smythe, 
Sidney Squires, William Stephenson, W. H. Turnley, 
Lemuel Wakelee and Jacob Whitesides. 



24 High Liohts 

Davidsonville, the First Postoffice (1817). 

The first postoffice in what is now the State of Ar- 
kansas was established at Davidsonville, in June, 1817. 
One Adam Richie was the first postmaster. In point of 
priority, the postoffice at Arkansas Post was a close 
second. The office at the latter place was established 
July 1, 1817, with Eli J. Lewis as postmaster. The office 
at Little Rock, of wliicb Amos Wheeler was the first post- 
master, was established in March, 1820. 

The Cherokee Indians Ceded Lands in Arkansas (1817). 

By a treaty concluded July 8, 1817, with the Chero- 
kees of Georgia, the United States Government granted 
that tribe of Indians a large tract of land in what is now 
the State of Arkansas. The lands so ceded were given 
to the Indians in exchange for a part of the lands claimed 
by them east of the Mississippi River. The grant in- 
cluded the greater part of the State situated between the 
Arkansas and White Rivers and west of a straight line 
drawn from a point on the Arkansas River near the 
present town of Morrilton in a northeasterly direction to 
the White River. 

The First Quapaw Treaty (1818). 

In a treaty concluded at St. Louis, August 24, 1818, 
the Quapaw Indians, for whom Arkansas is named, ceded 
to the United States all lands claimed by them in the pres- 
ent State of Arkansas, except a triangular tract south 
of the Arkansas River. The tract reserved was bounded 
on the north by the Arkansas, on the east and south by a 
straight line drawn due southwest from a point on the 
Arkansas opposite Arkansas Post to the Saline River; 
on the west hy a straight line from the latter point on 
the Saline River north to the Arkansas at Little Rock. 
By a second treaty, of November 15, 1824, the Quapaws 
ceded the lands reserved to tliem, as just described in 
the treaty of 1818. 



Arkansas Histoby 25 

How Arkansas Got its Name (1819). 

The name ^'Arkansas" manifestly is a word of In- 
dian origin. Nor is there, seemingly, any doubt as to 
its meaning; nor any uncertainty about how the name 
should be pronounced ; nor yet, any doubt why Congress, 
which created the Territory of Arkansas by an act ap- 
proved March 2, 1819, called the new territory "Arkan- 
saw." Most American ethnologists now, it seems, are 
agreed that the Arkansa, or, as they are better known, 
the Quapaw Indians, are of Siouan stock; which is to 
say, they are but one of a number of tribes embraced in 
the Siouan family of North American Indians. Other 
kindred tribes of the Siouan family are the Kansa, 
Omaha, Osage and Ponca. These latter tribes, with their 
near kinsmen, the Quapaw (Arkansa), were once, per- 
haps as late as the early part of the sixteenth century, 
united in an alliance, as five confederated tribes, who 
inhabited jointly the region of the lower Ohio valley. 
Later, probably before the end of the sixteenth century, 
the several tribes of the confederacy migrated from the 
region north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi 
rivers. Four of the allied tribes — the Kansa, Omaha, 
Osage and Ponca — moved northward and across the Mis- 
sissippi ; while the other tribe — the Quapaw, as they were 
then only known, — migrated down the Mississippi. There- 
after, the Illinois Indians, who, not unlikely, had helped 
to drive the allied tribes out of what is now southern 
Illinois, gave the two groups new names. The four tribes 
who had moved northward were called bj^ the Illinois the 
0-ma-ha; which meant the '^upstream people." While 
to the Quapaw, they gave the name U-gakh-pa; which 
word meant, in the language of the Illinois, the ''down- 
stream people." Thus the early French explorers heard 
the Indians whom they found dwelling in what is now 
Arkansas call themselves Quapaw; by other Indians, no 
doubt, the French heard the Quapaw called U-gakh-pa. 
The French explorers wrote, of course, the word 
Ugakhpa euphonically ; that is, as each writer heard the 



26 High LaaHxs 

Indians pronounce it. For example, Marquette wrote it 
(1673), Arkansea; LaSalle (1680), Aconsa; Jontel 
(1687), Acsanceas; Penicaut (1700), Arkansas; Adair 
(1775), Aqualipa; Pike (1811), Arkansaw. It is sig- 
nificant, too, that the earliest writers but rarely wrote 
the word Arkansas with a final *'s". Almost never was 
the "s" added except to express the plural. And stu- 
dents of ethnology are commonly agreed that the now 
familiar spelling, with a final "s", is really erroneous. 
The same is true also of Kansas. Both Arkansas and 
Kansas, properly speakinc;, should be written without 
the final *'s", as in the spelling of Omaha, Ottawa, Wich- 
ita, etc. Owing to an error of custom in adding a final 
*'s" to Kansas, originally to express the plural, the 
name is now universally pronounced improperly. And 
so also, there are those who pronounce the name Arkan- 
sas correspondingly incorrect — wdth the final "s" 
sounded and the accent put upon the second syllable. Such 
persons may easily avoid this error by remembering that 
the correct spelling of the tribal name of the Indian tribe 
from which the State of Arkansas gets its name was Ar- 
kansa. When thus spelled, without the final *'s", the 
accent falls naturally enough on the first and last syl- 
lables. That the last syllable should be pronounced as if 
it were spelled '*saw" is evidenced by the fact that the 
name of the Territorj^ of Arkansas, which appears ten 
times in the act of Congress that created it, is invariably 
spelled ''Arkansaw." Not until many years after Ar- 
kansas became an organized Territory did it, it seems, 
occur to anyone to pronounce the name other than that 
clearly indicated by the spelling ''Arkansaw", as used 
by Congress in creating the Territory. The word Ar- 
kansas was first employed as a place name by the Indians. 
For, in 1673, Marquette, as he passed down the 
Mississippi River on his exploiting expedition, was told 
that the Indian village situated then near the mouth of 
the river which is now the Arkansas was, as Marquette 
wrote in his journal, "called Arkansea." When in 



Arkansas History 27 

1686, Tonti, the explorer, founded the first white settle- 
ment near the Indian village of ''Arkansea," he called 
the place Arkansas. This settlement, which, in time, came 
to be known as Arkansas Post, was, during the next hun- 
dred years and more, the only settlement In what is now 
Arkansas that had a place name. Meantime, much of 
the region now embraced in Arkansas was called by the 
French, and later by the Spanish, authorities the "Par- 
ish of Arkansas." In 1806, the territorial legislature of 
Louisiana formed the greater part of what is now the 
State of Arkansas into the ^'District of Arkansas." In 
December, 1813, the territorial legislature of Missouri 
created the *' County of Arkansas"; which county em- 
braced the greater part of the present State of Arkansas. 
In the spring, or early summer, of 1818, a petition was 
framed at Arkansas Post, which many of the inhabitants 
at and in the vicinity of the Post signed, ''respectfully 
petitioning the Congress of the United States" that the 
Congress create a new "Territory of Arkansaw." This 
petition was sent to Washington, where it was presented 
to Congress and a bill introduced to effect the will of 
the petitioners. What could have been more natural 
than that the petitioners should have chosen the name 
Arkansas, or that Congress should have adopted it? In 
reality, tradition and custom gave the locality its name 
of Arkansas ; Congress simply ratified what custom long 
since had made etfective. 

The Territory of Arkansas Formed (1819). 

Congress created the Territory of Arkansas by an 
act approved by President James Monroe March 2, 1819. 
The boundaries, as defined in the act of Congress, were 
practically the same as those of the present State of Ar- 
kansas except on the west, where the boundary was given 
as the "western territorial line." The latter meant the 
western boundary of Louisiana, as purchased of France. 
Thus the Territory orig-inally inclnded the present State 
of Oklahoma and part of Colorado. By subsequent 



28 High Lights 

treaties with the Choctaw Indians (1825) and the Chero- 
kees (1828) the boundary on the west was fixed as at 
present. The new Territory was called Arkansas in 
the act of Congress — where it was spelled Arkansaw — in 
response to a petition which emanated from a meeting 
of a number of the inhabitants at Arkansas Post in the 
spring of 1818. In their petition, which prayed Con- 
gress to establish a new Territory, they asked that it be 
called ''Arkansaw." 

The First Newspaper in Arkansas Established (1819). 

On a Saturday, November 20, 1819, William E. 
Woodruff issued, at Arkansas Post, the first number of 
The Arkansas Gazette. This was the beginning of jour- 
nalism in Arkansas. There had been, prior to that time, 
six newspapers published west of the Mississippi river. 
Of the six which began publication before Woodruff 
founded the Gazette, all but one disappeared after a few 
years. The St. Louis Republic, founded in 1808, and 
The Arkansas Gazette, founded in 1819, are the two old- 
est papers, now in existence, west of the Mississippi. 

The First Arkansas Legislature (1819). 

The first legislature assembled to enact laws for the 
new Territory of Arkansas met at Arkansas Post on a 
Wednesday, July 28, 1819. The members continued in 
session until August 3. This first legislature, unlike any 
of its successors, was composed of the governor, who, 
having not yet arrived in the Territory, was represented 
by the territorial secretary acting as governor, and the 
three judges of the Superior Court — then the supreme, or 
highest, court of the Territory. The most important 
measure enacted was an act declaring in force in Arkan- 
sas ''all the laws and parts of laws now in existence in 
the Territory of Missouri, which are of general and not of 
local nature, and which are not repugnant to the organic 
law of this territory." Thus quick work was mode of 



Abkansas History 29 

the matter of providing Arkansas with a ready-made 
system of general laws. The members were, Robert 
Crittenden, acting governor; Charles Jouett, Andrew 
Scott and Robert P. Letcher, judges. 

The First General Election in Arkansas (1819). 

The first general election in Arkansas was held on 
Saturday, November 20, 1819, the same day on which 
appeared the first issue of The Arkansas Gazette. On 
that day the voters of the Territory chose a delegate to 
Congress, five members of a legislative council and nine 
members of a house of representatives. There were six 
candidates for delegate to Congress : Stephen F. Austin, 
James Woodson Bates, Henry Cassidy, Robert F. 
Slaughter, Alexander S. Walker and Perley Wallis. A 
total of 1272 votes was cast, distributed among the six 
candidates as follows: Austin, 343; Bates, 401; Cassidy, 
156; Slaughter, 138; Walker, 226; Wallis, 8. Stephen 
F. Austin, son of Moses Austin, announced his candi- 
dacy only thirteen days before the election. It was said 
afterwards that many voters in distant parts of the Ter- 
ritory knew nothing of his announcement until after the 
election. Had he entered the race at an earlier date, per- 
haps the result of the election had been different. James 
Woodson Bates having received a plurality was declared 
elected. Austin went shortly to Texas, where he founded 
a colony of Americans. The city of Austin was named 
for him. 

The First Masonic Lodge Organized (1819). 

When Andrew Scott was appointed judge of the 
Superior Court of Arkansas Territory in 1819 he was 
master of a Masonic lodge working under dispensation 
at Potosi, Missouri. With his appointment and prospec- 
tive removal to Arkansas, the lodge surrendered its let- 
ter of dispensation, but Judge Scott asked and obtained 
permission from the Missouri Grand Lodge to retain the 



30 High Lights 

jewels, to be presented to the first Masonic lodge organ- 
ized in Arkansas. Shortly after he settled at Arkansas 
Post a few Masons residing tliere petitioned the Grand 
Lodge of Kentucky for letters of dispensation to organ- 
ize a lodge. The petition was granted on November 30, 
1819, and on the next day Eobert Johnson was installed 
as worshipful master. This lodge was the first in Ar- 
kansas, of which anything definite can be learned. Upon 
the removal of the seat of government to Little Rock 
several of the members followed the capital and the lodge 
surrendered its dispensation. Arkansas was then with- 
out a Masonic organization of any kind until 1836, when 
the Masons of Fayetteville obtained a dispensation from 
the Grand Lodge of Tennessee to organize a lodge. It 
was named Washington Lodge No. 82, and was presented 
with the jewels brought from Missouri by Judge Scott 
seventeen years before. 

The Fiest General Assembly (1820). 

The first General Assembly — the first legislature 
made up of members chosen by the people — met at Ar- 
kansas Post February 7, 1820. Governor James Miller 
did not arrive at Arkansas Post, the temporary seat of 
government, until Sunday, December 26, 1819. Three 
days later, December 29, he issued his procalamation 
calling an extraordinary session of the General Assem- 
bly, as elected in November, for the first Monday in 
February following, which was February 7, 1820. The 
members of the council were: Sylvanus Phillips, Ar- 
kansas county; Jacob Barkman, Clark county; David 
Clark, Hempstead county; Edward McDonald, president, 
Lawrence county; John McElmurry, Pulaski county. 
The meml^rs of the house were : William 0. Allen and 
Wm. B. R. Horner, Arkansas county; Thomas Fish, 
Clark county; John English and Wm. Stevenson, Hemp- 
stead county; Joab Hardin and Joseph Hardin, speaker, 
Lawrence county ; Radford Ellis and Thomas H, Tindall, 
Pulaski county. 



Aekansas History 31 

The Site of Little Rock Laid Out for a Town (1820). 

The first white settler on what is now the site of the 
city of Little Rock was Williams Lewis, a hunter and 
trapper. Lewis, according to the sworn testimony of 
Chester Ashley, came down the Arkansas River with his 
family in July, 1812, and located near a spring on the 
south bank of the river, where he erected a "shack" about 
eight by ten feet, roofed with clapboards, with boards 
set up against the sides, too low^ to stand up in, and open 
at the ends. Lewis remained there only about three 
months, "subsisting wholly on the spontaneous produc- 
tions of the earth and the charity of a few neighbors on 
the north side of the river, and had not planted or cul- 
tivated anything. ' ' In October, 1812, William Lewis, be- 
fore starting up the Arkansas River on a buffalo hunt, 
gave the boards of his "shack" to a neighbor and never 
occupied the place again. Upon his return from the buf- 
falo hunt, he and his family lived with William Mabbitt 
a portion of the year 1813. Then he was absent until 
March 18, 1814, when he returned in company with Ed- 
mund Hogan and again lived with him and Mabbitt until 
May, when he left the Territory of Missouri for good. 
But before the close of 1814 Lewis obtained through the 
United States land office at Nashville, Tennessee, a cer- 
tification for a preemption claim, to cover a tract of land 
on the Arkansas River near the Little Rock, on account 
of "habitation and cultivation." This claim was sold by 
Lewis to Elisha White for ten dollars. White sold the 
claim to Wright Daniels, a settler a few miles down the 
river, who sold it to Reuben Blunt, and Blunt sold it to 
Benjamin Murphy. None of these holders of the cer- 
tificate went to the trouble to perfect a title and the claim 
finally fell into the hands of William Russell, a profes- 
sional land speculator. Russell sold, or transferred, 
parts of the claim to William Trimble, Townsend Dick- 
inson, Henry W. Conway and Rufus Spalding. Town- 
send Dickinson sold his interest to Robert C. Oden and 
William Russell quit-claimed to Robert Crittenden one- 



32 High Lights 

gixteenth of a "preemption to land originally improved 
by AVilliam Lewis and granted to B. Murphy." All this, 
preparatory to having the seat of government removed to 
Little Rock, was arranged, it seems, in the fall, or winter 
of 1819. The Arkansas Gazette of May 27, 1820, then 
published at Arkansas Post, says: "It is contemplated 
to remove the seat of government of the territory the 
ensuing fall from the Post of Arkansas to a place called 
Little Rock on the south side of the Arkansas river, about 
three hundred miles above its mouth. The land at Little 
Rock is in possession of a company of enterprising gen- 
tlemen from St. Louis, who have already surveyed and 
laid off a town ; the site of which for natural beauty and 
advantages is not surpassed by any west of the moun- 
tains. ***** It is, moreover, the place, and the 
only place, where the great road from Missouri to the 
Red River can cross the Arkansas." When the Gen- 
eral Assembly met for the second and last time at Arkan- 
sas Post on October 2, 1820, Joseph Harden, of Lawrence 
county, was chosen speaker of the house. On the 13th 
Townsend Dickinson conveyed to Harden an interest in 
the Murphy preemption claim, no doubt for the purpose 
of enlisting his cooperation in securing the passage of 
the bill for the removal of the seat of government to 
Little Rock. The "company of enterprising gentlemen 
from St. Louis," as mentioned by The Arkansas Gazette, 
consisted of one person, William Russell. The others — 
Trimble, Dickinson, Crittenden, Oden et al., — were all 
Arkansas politicians, who were, it would seem, more in- 
terested in "lining their pockets" than anything else. 
The act for the removal of the capital was approved by 
Governor Miller on October 18, 1820, five days after 
Speaker Harden acquired an interest in the town site, 
the act to take effect June 1, 1821. In the meantime 
Frederick Bates, recorder of land titles in Missouri Ter- 
ritory, had issued in the fall of 1815 New Madrid certifi- 
cates to Eloy Dejarlois, Francis Lessieur and Peter 
Porier, which entitled them to locate lands in lieu of 



Arkansas History 33 

those they had lost by the New Madrid earthquake. These 
certificates were bought by William 'Hara, of St. Louis, 
who assigned to Stephen F. Austin a half interest in 
the Dejarlois certificate. The 160 acres to which the 
holder of this certificate was entitled, were located by 
O'Hara and Austin on February 24, 1819. O'Hara sold 
to James Bryan a one-sixth interest in the Lessieur claim, 
of 160 acres, which had been located by James C. Can- 
field in November, 1819. And to James Bryan O'Hara 
sold a one-third interest in the Porier claim. Austin dis- 
posed of his interest to James Bryan and went to Texas. 
On August 17, 1820, the deeds relating to these several 
transfers were filed with Archabald Gamble, a clerk of the 
court in Jefferson county, Missouri; which deeds were 
also recorded in Pulaski county by A. H. Rennick, clerk, 
November 23, 1820. In these documents it was set forth 
that O'Hara and Bryan ''had agreed to lay out and sur- 
vey the said three tracts of land located by the certifi- 
cates above described into town lots, streets and commons, 

in form and manner as appears by a map 

or town plat hereto annexed." Thus it is plain that 
O'Hara 's and Bryan's town could not have been laid 
off prior to August 17, 1820. As these New Madrid 
claims overlapped the Lewis preemption, upon which the 
Russell crowd based their claim to the land — land upon 
which Russell had begun laying out a town probably as 
early as February, 1820 — a conflict of interests was in- 
evitable. In the fall of 1819 Russell took the dispute 
over title to the proposed town site into the courts. And 
in June, 1821, the Superior Court of the Territory de- 
cided the matter in his favor. This decision gave him 
possession of nearly all the improvements that had been 
made. The New Madrid claimants were highly indig- 
nant. Some of them blew up with powder most of the 
buildings they had erected; others moved their build- 
ings off of that portion of the town site of which Russell 
had obtained possession. Whereupon, in November, 
1821, Russell proposed a compromise. Chester Ashley 



34 High Lights 

was opposed to having any dealings with Russell; but a 
majority of the New Madrid claimants, fearing the re- 
sults of the court decision and knowing that an eifort 
was being made to remove the seat of government to 
Crystal Hill, concluded that a compromise was safest. 
The Arkansas Gazette of December 29, 1821, in the first 
issue published at Little Rock, says: "Until \\-ithin a 
few weeks, the title to the tract of land selected as the 
town site has been in dispute; but happily for the town 
and the territory generally, the parties concerned became 
sensible of the propriety of settling their conflicting 
claims in an amicable manner, which they have done, and 
the soil is now free from dispute." 

The Missouri Compromise — Arkansas and Slavery 
(1820). 

President Monroe approved March 6, 1820, a famous 
act of Congress, known as the Missouri Compromise. As 
a result of this act, the differences which had grown up be- 
tween the North and South over the question of the exten- 
sion of slavery, as applied to the whole of the Louisi- 
ana purchase — except, of course, the State of Louisiana — 
were temporarily settled. The effect upon the subsequent 
history of Arkansas was fraught with the greatest sig- 
nificance. Thus the way was left open for the Terri- 
tory of Arkansas, where already there were not a few 
slaves, to become the slave state that it did. The Com- 
promise, which made an exception of the then Territory 
of Missouri by providing for its admission to the Union 
as a slave state, prohibited slavery in all the rest of 
Louisiana, as purchased of France in 1803, north of the 
parallel which fonns the boundary between Arkansas 
and Missouri westward to the western boundary of the 
Louisiana purchase. In all the country south of this line 
of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude 
the question of the existence of slavery was left for set- 
tlement by the people themselves. And since the nat- 
ural conditions in Arkansas were highlv favorable to the 



Arkansas History 35 

development of slavery as a profitable institution, the 
growth of the slave population there kept pace with the 
ever increasing white population. 

The First Duel Fought in Arkansas (1820). 

The first duel between Arkansans was the one fought 
by William 0. Allen and Robert C. Oden on March 10, 
1820. Allen was a member of the Legislature and Oden 
was a young laAvyer. Two stories have been told regard- 
ing the cause of the duel. One is that Allen, who was 
some twenty-five years older than Oden and who was 
lame, became incensed because Oden got possession of 
his cane and would not return it, playfully retreating as 
Allen advanced. This was kept up until Allen became 
angry, limped to his room and wrote the challenge. The 
other story is that the two men were at dinner together 
when Oden ofiPered some criticim of a speech Allen had 
made in the Legislature. As the argument advanced, 
Oden accused Allen of disputing his word, seized the lat- 
ter 's cane and struck him with it. The duel followed, 
Allen firing first and the bullet striking a button on 
Oden's coat and inflicted a serious but not fatal wound. 
As he was falling he semi-consciously discharged his pis- 
tol, the ball struck Allen in the head, killing him instantly. 
The grand jury of Arkansas County indicted Oden for re- 
ceiving a challenge, and George W. Scott and Elijah 
Morton for having acted as seconds. Through technicali- 
ties the men were found *']iot guilty as charged in the in- 
dictment." In October, 1820, in part, no doubt, as a re- 
sult of the unfortunate affair between Allen and Oden, 
the Legislature passed a law declaring that death re- 
sulting from a duel was murder. Courts were required 
to accept the testimony of seconds, the witnesses being 
granted immunity for the part tliey might have taken. 
This put an end to dueling in xVrkansas, but it was an 
easy matter for the duelists to evade the law by going 
outside the boundaries of the Territorv or State. 



36 High Lights 

The Steamboat ''Comet" at Arkansas Post (1820). 

Navigation of the Arkansas River by steamboats was 
begun as early as March, 1820 — almost exactly ten years 
after the first steamboat had descended the Mississippi 
to New Orleans. The ''Comet," commanded by Captain 
Byrne, arrived at Arkansas Post at 10 o'clock p. m., on 
March 31, 1820. In spite of the hour and the darkness 
of night, quite a few of the inhabitants were up and at 
the landing; who, according to the report of the incident 
as published in the next issue of The Arkansas Gazette, 
gave Captain Byrne a most cordial welcome. The Cap- 
tain said that he had made the trip from New Orleans in 
eight days. Not until January 27, 1821, did the "Comet" 
come again to the Post. But thereafter, the "Comet" 
and other steamboats passed up and down the Arkansas 
at more frequent intervals. 

Dwight Mission Founded (1820). 

The American Board of Missions of the Presbyterian 
Church decided in 1818 to found a mission among the 
Cherokee Indians, who resided then in what is now the 
northwest quarter of the State of Arkansas. Rev. 
Cephas Washburn was selected by the board to estab- 
lish and take charge of the mission. Washburn was 
bom in Vermont in 1792 and while still a boy had the 
misfortune to break his leg by falling from a cart. Un- 
able to work on his father's farm, he became interested 
in the study of theology, attended Andover Seminary, and 
in 1818 graduated at the University of Vermont. Imme- 
diately after receiving his degree he went to Savannah, 
Georgia, to engage in the ministry and was soon after- 
ward assigned to the Cherokee mission in Arkansas. In 
the fall of 1819, accompanied by Asa and Jacob Hitch- 
cock, Alfred Finney and a Mr. Orr, he set out for the 
Cherokee country. On July 3, 1820, the party reached 
Little Rock, where Mr. Washburn was waited on by 
Matthew Cunningham, Stephen F. Austin "and other 



Arkansas History 37 

leading citizens, " who requested him **to preach a Fourth 
of July sermon the next day." The request was granted, 
and this was the first sermon preached in Little Rock. 
The audience consisted of ''fourteen men and no 
women." Passing on up the Arkansas River, the party 
selected a site in what is now Pope County, near the 
mouth of Illinois Creek, and there established the Dwight 
Mission, named in honor of Timothy Dwight, president of 
Yale College and a friend of missions. Two comfortable 
log cabins were completed by the first of October, 1820, 
when Washburn and Finley left the others in charge and 
returned east for their families. They arrived at the 
mission again on May 10, 1821, and from that time until 
the removal of the Cherokees to the Indian Territory 
in 1828 Mr. Washburn did all he could to advance the 
interests of his Indian friends. He and Mr. Finney 
went with the Indians to their new home and ministered 
to their wants for more than ten years. When Mr. Wash- 
burn gave up missionary work he settled in Benton 
County, Arkansas, where he preached and taught school 
for several years. He was then pastor of a Presbyterian 
Church at Fort Smith for two or three years and in 1855 
removed to Norristo^^m, then a town of some importance, 
not far from the mission he had established thirty-five 
years before. In the spring of 1860 he started for Hel- 
ena, where the Presbyterian Church was without a 
preacher, but was taken ill enroute and died at the home 
of Dr. Roderick L. Dodge in Ltitle Rock on March 17, 
1860. 

The Cession to the Choctaw Indians (1820). 

The Choctaws, by treaty concluded October 20, 1820, 
were ceded all that part of the Arkansas Territory situ- 
ated south of the Arkansas River and west of a straight 
line drawn from Point Remove (near the present town 
of Morrilton) in a southwesterly direction to Red River. 
The country so ceded included about one-fifth of the 
area of the present State of Arkansas. The treaty was 



38 High Lights 

negotiated by General Andrew Jackson and General 
Thomas Hinds, who met the Choctaw chiefs at Doak's 
Stand, on the old Natchez road, in the State of Mis- 
sissippi. The Choctaws accepted the lands ceded them 
in Arkansas in exchange for lands they claimed in 
Mississippi, whence they agreed to remove to their new 
home west of the Mississippi. Naturally enough the news 
of such a treaty raised a storm of opposition in Arkan- 
sas. Hundreds of settlers who had selected lands and 
established their abodes in the country ceded to the 
Choctaws were threatened, according to the terms of the 
treaty, with expulsion from the region set apart as the 
exclusive abode of the Indians. 

The Name of Little Rock Changed to Arkopolis (1821). 

The Arkansas Gazette of February 10, 1821, contains 
the following ''extract of a letter to the Editors, dated 
Arkopolis, (formerly Little Rock), February 5, 1821. 
Gentlemen — On the 3d Inst, we had a large and respect- 
able meeting of the citizens of this place and its vicinity, 
for the purpose of gi\ang it a name ; and we unanimously 
adopted the above — a combination of the first syllable 
of Arkansas, and the Greek word polls, or 'city'. Not- 
withstanding the weather was very unfavorable the day 
passed with much cheerfulness and mirth; and it gave 
me peculiar pleasure to witness the cordial expressions 
of good will, and the wishes of all present, for the im- 
provement of our new Seat of Government." The new 
name, however, was soon abandoned. "Little Rock," a 
name first given to the place by Bernard de la Harpe. 
the French explorer, in his account of his voyage up the 
Arkansas in 1722, was by this time too widely current to 
be changed by the formal resolution of the few inhabi- 
tants of the tovm. LaHarpe had called it La Petite Roche 
(Little Rock) in order to distinguish it from the higher 
rocky bluff (now called Big Rock) situated two miles 
farther up the river. Thus, from the small out-cropping 



Arkansas History 39 

of stone on the bank of the river, the name of the capital 
city of Arkansas was conferred upon the site of it nearly 
a century before the first settlement was made there. 

The Capitol Removed to Little Rock (1821). 

An Act of the Territorial Legislature, approved by 
Governor James Miller October 18, 1820, provided that, 
after June 1, 1821, the sessions of the Legislature and of 
the Superior Court should be held at Little Rock. There- 
after Arkansas Post, designated as the temporary seat 
of the territorial government in the act of Congress cre- 
ating the Territory, lost much of its prestige as the prin- 
cipal center of life and affairs in the Territory. The 
passage of the act of October 18, 1820, w\hs due chiefly 
to the representations of Amos Wheeler, who, on behalf 
of himself, Chester Ashley, William Russell and others, 
went before the General Assembly with a proposal to 
donate a site for a capitol building and a guarantee of 
$20,000 that a suitable structure for the legislative ses- 
sions would be erected without expense to the Territory. 
No public buildings of any kind had been erected at Ar- 
kansas Post. The legislative session that met in Febru- 
ary, 1820, was held at the house of Robert Crittenden and 
the adjourned session in the following October was held 
in a house rented from John Larquin. The argument 
that Little Rock was nearer the geographical center of 
the Territory, and that the site was not in danger of over- 
flow, had, no doubt, some weight. 

*'The Arkansas Herald" — the Second Newspaper 
(1821). 

The Arkansas Gazette of September 22, 1821, pub- 
lished an announcement of a new newspaper, which the 
publishers, ''John H. Wilkins and Company," said 
would begin publication "about November 1st," at Da- 
vidsonville, then the county site of Lawrence County. 
Though there are now no copies of the Herald known to 



40 High Lights 

be in existence, there seems but little doubt that this was 
the second newspaper published in the Territory of Ar- 
kansas. 

The Steamboat ** Eagle" at Little Rock (1822). 

The "Eagle", commanded by Captain Morris, was 
the first steamboat that ascended the Arkansas River as 
far as Little Rock. It arrived there on March 16, 1822, 
''seventeen days from New Orleans," according to The 
Arkansas Gazette of March 19th, the next issue after the 
event. The boat arrived at an early hour in the morn- 
ing, and Captain Morris, in order to "arouse the town," 
fired a salute of several guns. After a stop of about an 
hour, the "Eagle" continued on its way up the river to 
Dwight Mission. But on account of the low stage of the 
water, Captain Morris was compelled to unload the 
freight of the "Eagle," which was intended for the Mis- 
sion, at a point some ten miles below and turn back. 
Thus, on the 19th of March, he arrived again at Little 
Rock, whence he proceeded on his return voyage to New 
Orleans. 

The Mn^iTAKY Roads — the First Move to Open the Mem- 
phis-Little Rock Road (1824). 

During the years that Arkansas continued as a Ter- 
ritory — from 1819 to 1836 — a considerable sum of money 
was appropriated from time to time by the United States 
Government for the opening and construction of roads in 
different parts of the Territory. The several roads for 
which these appropriations from the national treasury 
were made were known either as military roads or post 
roads. The military roads were so-called because the 
chief purpose of the government in the construction of 
such was the intent to facilitate the movement of troops 
and munitions of war to and from the western frontier, 
and from point to point along the western boundary of 
the Territory. The military roads were intended also to 



Arkansas History 41 

expedite the removal of the Southern Indian tribes to 
the Indian Territory; which removals, after 1824, be- 
came the settled policy of the national government. The 
post roads manifestly were opened as routes for the car- 
rying of the mail. In 1824 Congress appropriated 
$15,000 for the survey, etc., of a military road from 
Memphis to Little Rock. This was the beginning of road 
building by the government in Arkansas. Subsequently, 
additional appropriations were made, and, by 1828, the 
road from Memphis had been opened all the way to Fort 
Gibson, through Little Rock and Fort Smith. Alto- 
gether, first and last, about a quarter of a million dol- 
lars were spent by the government on that part of this 
road alone from Memphis to Little Rock. The north 
and south military road was begun in 1832. This road 
was, during the years from 1832 to 1836, opened from 
Hicks ' Ferry, on Current River, to Fulton, on Red River. 
It crossed White River some eight miles below Bates- 
ville ; the Arkansas, at Little Rock. There was a western 
branch of this road, from Washington westward to Fort 
Towson. 

The Quapaws Ceded All of Their Lands in Arkansas 
TO THE United States (1824). 

By treaty, in 1818, the United States acquired pos- 
session of all lands claimed by the Quapaw Indians in 
Arkansas except a triangular tract south of the Arkan- 
sas River (see First Quapaw Treaty, 1818). In a sec- 
ond treaty, concluded November 15, 1824, the Quapaws 
ceded the rest of their claim, as secured to them for a 
reservation by the treaty of 1818. The latter treaty, that 
of 1824, was negotiated at the house of Bartley Harring- 
ton by Robert Crittenden, who, at the time, was acting 
governor of Arkansas. Under instruction from John 
C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, Crittenden inveigled the 
Quapaws into an acceptance of the cession against their 
will. They agreed to remove to the country inhabited 
by the Caddo Indians, the removal from Arkansas to 



42 High Lights 

commence not later than January 20, 1826. For their 
lands in Arkansas the United States agreed to pay each 
of the four head chiefs of the Quapaw Nation the sum of 
$500; to give, for the use of the tribe, merchandise val- 
ued at $4,000, and to pay them an annuity of $1,000 in 
specie for a term of eleven years. According to agree- 
ment, the removal of the Quapaws was effected in 1826. 
A Frenchman, Antoine Barraque, was appointed to con- 
duct them to their new abode. The lands assigned them 
in the Caddo country were in an unhealthy location. 
Many of the tribe sickened and died, among them Chief 
Heckaton. Their crops were destroyed by floods and 
they became so discouraged that a large number returned 
to their old homes on the Arkansas Eiver. They found 
their lands there in the hands of white settlers and they 
were wanderers upon the face of the earth. On May 13, 
1833, the United States, by a new treaty, gave them a 
reservation in the Indian Territory. 

The Westeen Boundary Established South of the Ar- 
kansas River (1825). 

Of the several Indian treaties touching the matter 
of land titles in Arkansas, none was of greater histori- 
cal importance than the second Choctaw treaty, concluded 
January 20, 1825; which treaty settled permanently the 
western boundary question from the Arkansas River 
south to the Red River. As established by Act of Con- 
gress March 2, 1819, in the act creating the Territory, 
the western boundary of Arkansas was designated as 
the ''western territorial line"; which meant that it in- 
cluded the present State of Oklahoma, and more. Ac- 
cording to the terms of the treaty with the Choctaws 
of October 18, 1820, the western boundary of Arkansas — 
south of the Arkansas River — was fixed at a line drawn 
from Point Remove, on the Arkansas, in a southwesterly 
direction to Red River. Mention is made of the indigna- 
tion raised in Arkansas by this arrangement in the topic 
entitled: ''The Cession to the Choctaw Indians (1820)." 



Arkansas History 43 

It was frequently and openly asserted in Arkansas at the 
time that General Jackson and General Hinds, who ne- 
gotiated the treaty of 1820, were ignorant of the true 
nature, location and settlement of the country ceded by 
them to the Choctaws. Following the treaty of 1820, 
many settlers were compelled to abandon their settle- 
ments in the ceded region. Petitions were sent from Ar- 
kansas to Washington asking that a new treaty be drawn. 
Thus, in November, 1824, John C. Calhoun, Secretary of 
War, summoned a number of the Choctaw chiefs and 
head men to Washington. More than two months were 
spent in making proposals and counter proposals. On 
January 20, 1825, a treaty was concluded, in which the 
Choctaw delegates ceded to the United States ''all that 
portion of the land ceded to them by the second article 
of the treaty of Doak's Stand, lying east of a line begin- 
ning on the Arkansas River one hundred paces east of 
Fort Smith, and running thence due south to Red River; 
it being understood that this line shall constitute and re- 
main the permanent boundary between the United States 
and the Choctaws * * *." 

The First Church House in Arkansas Built by Bap- 
tists (1825). 

The first regular house of worship erected in Arkan- 
sas was built in 1825 at Little Rock by the Baptists. It 
was situated on the south side of Third street between 
Main and Scott streets. One who often saw it said of 
this first church house that it was built of neatly hewed 
logs. The organization of the church was effected by 
the Reverend Silas T. Toncray in 1824, who was its pas- 
tor from the date of organization until 1829. In the 
spring of 1832 Rev. Benjamin F. Hall, a minister of the 
Christian (sometimes called Campbellite) Church, came 
to Little Rock and conducted a series of revival meetings 
in the Baptist Church. So many of the members turned 
** Christians" that a Campbellite Church was organized 
and the Baptist congregation was almost broken up. A 



44 High Lights 

few of them did remain faithful to the Baptist creed and 
reorganized what afterward became the First Baptist 
Church of Little Rock. It seems that the early Baptists 
were very liberal in allowing others to use their house 
of worship. The Presbyterians held services in it for a 
short time and the constitutional convention of 1836 met 
within its walls. 

The First Steam Sawmill in Arkansas (1826). 

The first sawmill in Arkansas propelled by steam 
began cutting lumber at Helena, July 27, 1826. A re- 
port of the matter, dated July 28, 1826, to The Arkansas 
Gazette, as published in the issue of August 8, 1826, is 
as follows: ''Yesterday at 12 o'clock a steam sawmill, 
built by Messrs. Porter & King, in the upper part of our 
little town, was put in operation, with two saws. It runs 
extremely well and cuts fast. This mill has been built 
from the stump in two and a half months, under the di- 
rection of Mr. Porter, with not more than from four to six 
hands. It adds greatly to the prospects of our town by 
furnishing the means of building without a resort to the 
tedious and laborious mode of cutting out plank with 
the whip-saw." By way of comment upon the report of 
his correspondent, the editor said: "This, we believe, is 
the first steam sawmill ever erected in the Territory of 
Arkansas — indeed, we do not know of any machinery 
whatever in the territory that is propelled by the power 
of steam. We hope the enterprising proprietors will 
meet with liberal encouragement; and that their exam- 
ple will be followed by others in the different sections 
of the territory where a sufficient water-power for simi- 
lar purposes cannot be conveniently obtained." 

The First Stage Line (1826). 

Before the advent of the railroad, the most popular 
mode of overland travel was by means of the stage coach. 
The first stage route in Arkansas was that established by 



Arkansas History 45 

Wright Daniels between Little Rock and Arkansas Post 
in the fall of 1826. Mr. Daniels had the contract for 
carrying the mails between the two points and put on 
coaches for the conveyance of passengers. The coach 
left Little Rock every Tuesday at noon and arrived at 
Arkansas Post the following Thursday in the evening. 
Returning, it left the Post on Friday morning at eight 
o'clock and arrived in Little Rock on the following Mon- 
day about 10 A. M. The fare for the through trip, one 
way, was $8.00, and each passenger was allowed to carry 
fourteen pounds of baggage. Joseph Henderson was the 
agent at Little Rock and Eli J. Lewis at Arkansas Post. 

The Seminary Land Grant (1827). 

In an act of Congress, approved February 17, 1818, 
which provided for the estblishment of additional land of- 
fices in the Territory of Missouri, provision was made 
also for the reservation of ''one township of land on the 
water of the Arkansas River * * * for the use of a sem- 
inary of learning. ' ' Thus, more than a year bef or the Ter- 
ritory of Arkansas itself was formed. Congress proposed 
to reserve a considerable body of land in the then unor- 
ganized Territory for a college or higher institution of 
learning. Time passed, Arkansas was created a Terri- 
tory, and nothing w^as done either by Congress or the Ter- 
irtory to select or use the lands so reserved. But on 
March 2, 1827, the President approved another act of 
Congress reserving two townships mthin the Territory of 
Arkansas, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever". 
Governor Izard appointed an agent to select the two town- 
ships, but his death occurred before the work was com- 
pleted and the selection was finished under the adminis- 
tration of Governor Pope. The Gazette of February 2, 
1831, said: "Major Elias Rector has just completed the 
selection of the remainder of the two townships of land 
which were granted by Congress for seminary purposes in 
this territory and reported them to the governor last 



46 High Lights 

week. * * * The selections which have been made, we 
understand, are all first class land. If judiciously dis- 
posed of, the proceeds arising from their sale or lease 
may constitute a fund to establish an institution for the 
education of the youth of the present day, and of future 
generations, which may redound to the credit of our ter- 
ritory and to the imperishable honor of the future State 
of Arkansas." This optimistic view of the editor was 
never realized. By the act of March 3, 1833, the gover- 
nor was authorized by Congress to sell twenty sections 
and apply the proceeds to the erection of buildings, but 
there is nothing to show that anything was ever done 
under this act. In the compact of June 23, 1836, which 
provided for the admission of Arkansas to statehood, 
Congress gave the General Assembly full power to man- 
age the donation of the two townships, which were "to 
be applied solely for the purposes of the donation". On 
December 17, 1838, Gov. James S. Conway approved an 
act of the General Assembly making him the agent of 
the state to sell what remained unsold of the seventy-two 
sections, at not less than $10 per acre. At the first pub- 
lic auction on February 17-18, 1840, only four eighty-acre 
tracts were sold, bringing $3,312. In his message of the 
following November, Governor Conway recommended 
that the minimum price be reduced to $5 an acre. On 
December 28, 1840, Governor Yell approved an act fix- 
ing the price of the seminary lands at $6 per acre for all 
lands sold at private sale within six months; $5 per aero 
during the next six months; $3 for the next six months, 
and after that time $3 per acre, "until otherwise altered 
by law". One can plainly see that, under the terms of 
this act, a prospective purchaser would have had to wait 
only eighteen months to secure his land for half of w^hat 
it would cost him if he had bought within six months after 
the passage of the act. Besides the clause "until other- 
wise altered by law" suggested still further reductions 
in price and had a tendency to retard the sales. Had the 
entire grant of seventy-two sections been sold at $10 per 



Arkansas History 47 

acre — the price first fixed by the General Assembly — the 
sum of $460,800 would have been realized, from which, 
of course, certain expenses would have to be deducted . 
The last blow to the university land grant was dealt by 
the Legislature of 1844, which memorialized Congress for 
the right to use the funds received from the sale of the 
lands for the support of common schools. This privilege 
was granted and all hope of a state university according 
to the original plan vanished. 

The "Lost County of Lovely" (1827). 

An act of the General Assembly, approved by Gover- 
nor George Izard October 13, 1827, created a new county 
to which was given the name of Lovely. The county em- 
braced, in part, what was known as the "Lovely Pur- 
chase", and thus the county got its name. The Lovely 
Purchase embraced a large and imperfectly bounded 
tract of country situated between the western boundary 
of the Osage cession of 1808 and the Verdigris River. 
This tract was purchased, in July, 1816, bv William and 
Peter Lovely from the Osage Indians. The United States, 
by the Cherokee treaty of 1817, granted part of the 
Lovely tract to the Cherokee Indians. Then, in 1824, 
by act of Congress, the western boundary of Arkansas 
was fixed so as to include what was afterwards known as 
the "forty-mile strip"; which strip constituted the lands 
erected into the county of Lovely in 1827. By dint of the 
-Cherokee Treaty of 1828, which established the present 
western boundary of Arkansas, the greater part of 
Lovely county was cut out of Arkansas. It is said of 
William Lovely, one of the original purchasers of the 
Lovely tract, that he was a soldier of the American Rev- 
olution; that he afterwards settled in Tennessee, where 
he became a friend of the Cherokee Indians ; moved west 
with members of that tribe, where he engaged in Indian 
trade. Thus, in 1816, he purchased of the Osages thf 
tract of land which thereafter took the name of the Lovely 
Purchase. 



48 BLiQH Lights 

The Crittenden-Conway Duel (1827). 

In 1824 the Secretary of the Treasury of the United 
States at Washington intrusted Henry W. Conway with 
$7,000 to pay the Quapaw Indians for their reservation. 
At tliat time it was no unusual thing for persons hand- 
Hng trust funds to apply some of the money to their own 
use and replace it before final settlement. Mr. Conway 
used some of the Quapaw fund. When he reached Little 
Rock he explained to Mr. Crittenden, then acting gover- 
nor, what he had done and asked what sum would be 
needed to satisfy the Quapaw demand. Crittenden re- 
plied. "About six thousand dollars." Conw^ay then paid 
him $6,400, taking his receipt. A few months later the 
balance of $600 was returned to the treasurer of the 
United States at Crittenden's request. In the campaign 
of 1825, when Conway and Bates were tlie opposing can- 
didates for delegate, Crittenden rather favored Conway 
and nothing was said about the matter. Two years later 
Crittenden was a supporter of Robert C. Oden, who 
brought Conway's appropriation of trust funds into the 
campaign as an issue. Mr. Conway admitted the truth 
of Oden's charges, but explained that be had withheld 
the money "v^ith the consent of Mr. Crittenden. In an 
article in ''The Arkansas Gazette" of June 19, 1827, 
Crittenden denied that he had ever given Conway per- 
mission to retain the money. The next issue of the paper 
contained a communication from Mr. Conway, in which 
he said: 

"I can only reiterate what I have already stated in 
my circular of the 18th of May, that it was by his per- 
mission and assent that I retained the money, or I should 
have paid over to him the full amount, before any part 
of the money was wanted for the treaty. * * * In a 
subsequent conversation on the same subject. Mr. Crit- 
tenden mentioned that the whole of the money, he 
thought, would not be wanted for the treaty, and if it 



Arkansas History 49 

were not perfectly convenient for me to repay it then, 
that I could refund it to the government on my return to 
Washington." 

The whole question now settled down to one of verac- 
ity between Mr. Conway and Mr. Crittenden, Conway's 
defeat of Oden by a vote of nearly three to one showed 
clearly which one the people of the territory were most 
inclined to believe. That expression of confidence evi- 
dently chagrined Mr. Crittenden. Under date of August 
27, 1827, he wrote to Mr. Conway as follows : 

**Sir — I had believed that the newspaper altercation 
between us had closed with my last publication, and that 
you would have sought a different issue. 

*' Indifferent as to who should make the call, I now 
announce to you that I will challenge you on or before 
the 20th of October next. I regret, sir, that the peculiar 
situation of my family precludes an immediate settlement 
of our difference. 

''Colonel Oden will hand you this note and act for 
me for the present. Col. Benj. Desha wall act as my first 
friend after his arrival, wliich will be in six or eight days. 

''Yours, &c., 
"Rob't Crittenden." 

The duel was fought early on the morning of Octo- 
ber 29, 1827, on the east side of the Misissippi River, 
opposite the mouth of the White River. Wharton Rec- 
for acted as Mr. Conway's second and Benjamin Desha 
as Mr. Crittenden's. At the first and only fire, Mr. Con- 
way was mortally wounded. He was taken across the 
river, to the house of William Montgomery, where he 
died on the 9th of November. The bullet from Conway's 
pistol passed through the lapel of Crittenden's coat, but 
did not inflict any injury. Just before leaving Little Rock 
for the rendezvous, Mr. Conway, perhaps with a pre- 
monition of his fate, placed in the hands of William E. 
Woodruff the above letter he had received from Mr. 



50 High Lights 

Crittenden and letters from Sylvanus Phillips and Wil- 
liam Montgomery of a later date, to be published in "The 
Arkansas Gazette" in the next issue after the duel. The 
letters were intended to show that the affair was not of 
his seeking, but that he had been forced into it. Mr. Phil- 
lips wrote: 

'*In speaking on the subject of the dispute between 
yourself and Mr. Crittenden, he (Mr. Crittenden) said he 
had been badly treated by you and your party, and that 
there would be a good deal of hard fighting before or 
after the election ; that if you did not challenge him, he 
would challenge you," etc. 

Mr. Montgomery said: ''Some time in July, Mr. 
Crittenden and myself got into conversation about the 
election, and the abuse in the Gazette on different char- 
acters. He said that yourself and he must fight — that it 
could not be got over, without you made acknowledg- 
ments, which he expected you would not do. He also said 
he had tried every way to get you to challenge him, and 
if you did not, he would challenge you. I mention this 
as a friend, that you may be on your guard, and practice, 
if it is your opinion he will do so." 

Mr. Conway's untimely death was sincerely mourned 
throughout the territory. A Kentucky newspaper, com- 
menting upon the affair, said: "Down in Arkansas, when 
a man can not be gotten rid of at the polls, he is imme- 
diately killed off in a duel." 

The Western Boundary Established North of the Ar- 
kansas RrvER (1828). 

Of equal historical importance, perhaps, to the Choc- 
taw treaty of 1825, which settled permanently the west- 
ern boundary question from the Arkansas River south 
to the Red River, was the Cherokee treaty of May 6, 
1828. Governor Izard was instructed as early as 1825 
by the Secretary of War to negotiate with the Cherokees 



Arkansas History 51 

for the cession to the United States of that part of their 
reservation which, according to the treaty of 1817, lay 
east of the present western boundary of Arkansas. See 
topic, ** Cherokee Indians Ceded Lands in Arkansas 
(1817) ". But Governor Izard found the Cherokees vio- 
lently opposed to such a cession; so much so, indeed, that 
the council of the nation had passed sentence of death 
upon any member of the tribe who should dare to enter 
into negotiations for a cession of their lands. Thus the 
matter was delayed until 1828; when a delegation of 
Cherokee chief and warriors were induced to go to Wash- 
ington for the purpose of arriving at a settlement of the 
issue. It was there, at Washington, that a treaty was 
finally concluded May 6, 1828, which settled the western 
boundary of Arkansas north of the Arkansas river upon 
a straight line drawn from the point where the Choctaw 
boundary line began on the south bank of the Arkansas 
to the southwest corner of Missouri. See topic, "The 
Western Boundarv Established South of the Arkansas 
River (1825)". 

The School Lands; the First Attempt to Establish 
Public Schools (1829). 

The act of Congress of 1819, by which the Territory 
of Arkansas was established, reserved the sixteenth sec- 
tion of land in each township as "an endo\^Tiient for the 
common schools of the township in which said section is 
located". Ten years passed before the territorial leg- 
islature took any steps whatever to render this land grant 
available for the purpose for which it was intended. By 
the act of November 21, 1829, the Legislature authorized 
the county court, upon petition of the citizens of any 
township, to appoint a trustee of the school lands in such 
township. It was made the duty of the trustee to lease 
the land, "for a period not to exceed five years at a 
time". The money received from such leases was to be 
applied by the county court towards the support of one or 
more common schools in the township. But in a coun- 



52 High Lights 

try where land was more plentiful than almost anything 
else, the trustees found it a difficult matter to lease the 
school lands for a sum sufficient to establish and main- 
tain public schools, and as no appropriation was made 
by the General Assembly to supplement the rentals, 
nothing came of this act. When Arkansas was admitted 
to the Union as a state in 1836, the constitution, under 
which the state was admitted, contained a pro\^sion to 
the effect that '*it shall be the duty of the General As- 
sembly to provide by law for the improvement of such 
lands as are or hereafter may be granted by the United 
States to this state for the use of schools, and to apply 
any funds which may be raised from such lands, or from 
any other source, to the accomplishment of the object for 
which they are or may be intended. James S. Conway, 
the first governor of the state, said in his inaugural ad- 
dress: **The fabric of the state, when once constructed, 
must stand for ages. It must be fixed in the understand- 
ing and reverence of the people. Let us therefore exam- 
ine for and collect all materials calculated to enlighten 
the public mind and diffuse general and useful knowledge. 
We have ample means for the establishment of such insti- 
tutions of learning as will insure universal education to 
the youth of our country. Knowledge is power; it is 
the lever which sways everything in a popular govern- 
ment." The ''ample means" referred to by the gover- 
nor were, manifestly, the lands embraced in the six- 
teenth sections. He either overestimated the value of 
the lands or underestimated the cost of maintaining an 
effective public school system. Apparently he did not 
realize the necessity of supplementing the sixteenth sec- 
tion fund by taxation — a method to which the state finally 
had to resort. The General Assembly of 1837 memorial- 
ized Congress for authority to sell the school lands and 
apply the interest of the money so received for school 
purposes. This authority was granted by an act of Con- 
gress approved February 15, 1843. On February 3, 
1843, twelve days before Congress granted the state 



Arkansas Histoby 53 

power to sell the sixteenth sections, Governor Yell ap- 
proved an act of the Legislature 'Ho establish a system 
of common schools in the State of Arkansas". It pro- 
vided that upon the request of the people of any town- 
ship in which there were as many as five householders 
and fifteen white children, the county court should order 
an election for a commissioner for that township, whose 
duty it should be to sell, or lease, as the people preferred, 
the sixteenth section on ten years' credit, at not less 
than $2 per acre, the funds thus accruing to be perpetual, 
only the interest to be used. There was to be elected also 
a board of three trustees, who should have control of the 
fund and supervision of the township school or schools. 
Naturally, this law was a failure, because the fund ob- 
tained by the sale of the sixteenth section was insufficient 
to meet the requirements of anything like an efficient 
school system. In order to supplement the fund acquired 
from the sale or lease of the sixteenth section, the General 
Assembly on December 18, 1844, petitioned Congress for 
authority to sell the seminary lands and apply the pro- 
ceeds to the common schools. This permission was given 
by an act of Congress, approved on July 29, 1846; and 
by another act, approved March 3, 1847, the state was 
directed to apply the funds arising from the sale of the 
saline lands for the same purpose. A new school law 
was approved by the governor January 5, 1849; which 
act provided that the funds arising from the sale of the 
seminary and saline lands should be divided among the 
counties in proportion to the school population and that 
the fund should be a perpetual endowment for the schools 
of the county. In his message to the General Assembly 
in November, 1850, Gov. John S. Roane took the view 
that a public school system in a state with as sparse a 
population as Arkansas had at that time was doomed to 
failure. He condemned the transfer of the seminary and 
saline lands to the use of the common schools, character- 
izing the funds as ''a mere pittance", and recommended 
the repeal of the law giving the seminary funds to the 



54 High Lights 

common schools. The General Assembly of 1852 passed 
an act makinn: the secretary of state ex-officio state com- 
missioner of schools; authorizing the election of a county 
school commissioner, who was to be ex-officio county 
school superintendent, and who was required to report to 
thie state commissioner. David B. Greer, secretary of 
state and ex-officio commissioner, made his first annual 
report to the governor in 1854. "The condition of com- 
mon schools in the state." savs the report, "presents a 
gloomy picture, but the friends of education should not 
be discouraged. The same difficulties experienced by Ar- 
kansas in their establishment have been more or less felt 
in all the new and sparsely settled states. * * * The 
great obstacle in the organization of common schools is 
not so much a deficiency in the means to sustain them, 
but it is attributable to the indifference that pervades 
the public mind on the subject of education." Governor 
Henry M. Rector, in his message to the General Assem- 
bly in 1860. said: "Th(^ common school system seems to 
be radically defective. In the last report made by the 
secretary of state, as state commissioner of common 
schools, it may be seen that there are only twenty-five 
common schools organized and kept up in the state from 
the common school fund. This is a sad commentary 
upon the present system." Such were the educational 
conditions in Arkansas, as regards public schools, at the 
beginning of the Civil War in 1861. 

The Invention of the Famous Bowie Knife (1830). 

The "Bowie Knife" was, according to the late Gov- 
ernor Dan. W. Jones, the invention of one James Black, 
a blacksmith, at Washington, Hempstead county. Black 
was a native of New Jersey, where he was born in 1800; 
served an apprenticeship, which ended in 1818 ; removed 
to Hempstead county, Arkansas, about 1824, where he 
found employment with another blacksmith by the name 
of Shaw. Because he fell in love with Anne Shaw, one 
of his employer's daughters. Black was discharged and 



Arkansas History 55 

located a shop of his own on the Cossatot River, where 
he became a farmer as well as blackmith. After a brief 
residence there, he removed to Washington; married 
Anne Shaw and established himself as a blacksmith. Be- 
ing a fine workman, especially in the matter of tem- 
pering steel, he soon had all the work he could do. In 
1830 James Bowie, while in Washington, procured Black 
to make for him (Bowie) a knife, according to a pattern 
which he is said to have whittled out of an old cigar box. 
Black made the knife, but after completing it made an- 
other by a pattern of his own, and when Bowie called 
for his knife Black offered him his choice of the two. 
He promptly selected Black's pattern. Not long after 
this Bowie became involved in a quarrel with three des- 
peradoes and killed them all with the knife Black had 
made. After that when anyone wanted a knife from 
Black he would order it to be ''made like Bowie's". It 
was in this way that the name originated. When Bowie 
was killed at the Alamo in March, 1836, his body was 
found surrounded by dead Mexicans and the knife made 
by James Black still clasped in his hand. Governor 
Jones said of the knife and its maker : "Other men made 
knives in those days, and later, but no one has made the 
'Bow^e Knife' except James Black. He undoubtedly 
possessed the Damascus secret. It came to him mysteri- 
ously and it died in the same way. ' ' 

Hot Springs — The First Bath House (1830). 

In 1830 Asa Thompson leased the Hot Springs and 
put up the first bath house for the accommodation of visi- 
tors. This first bath house was a primitive affiair ; for, in 
1832, the bathing facilities were described as follows: 
Directly in front of what is now the site of the Arling- 
ton House, and below one of the hot springs, there was a 
cavity cut into the rock, into which the water flowed. This 
was used as a bathing pool and had no covering except 
the bushes with which it was surrounded. The only 
vapor bath facility was a niche cut into the rock at the 



56 High Lights 

base of the mountain where the Big Iron bathhouse was 
afterward built. The hot water was conveyed into a pool 
under an open floor, over which was a rude seat for the 
bather to sit upon ; the niche was covered overhead with 
rocks and boards and in front with a blanket. About fifty- 
feet south of this there was a log bathhouse with one 
plank tub in it, and a hundred yards still farther south, 
at the foot of the mountain, was placed another log bath- 
house, with a single wooden tub. The population increased 
during 1832 by the arrival of the Physic brothers and Hi- 
ram A. Whittington. Philip Physic opened a little store, 
but it seems that he did not remain long. Hiram A. Whit- 
tington was born in Boston, January 14, 1805. He 
learned the printer's trade, came to Arkansas in Decem- 
ber, 1826, and worked on the "Gazette" at Little Rock 
until June, 1832. He then went to Hot Springs for his 
health, and in order to make expenses while there started 
a little store with a capital of $500. In 1836 he married 
Miss M. E. Bigliam and opened a hotel. In 1842 he sold 
his store and continued in the hotel business until 1849, 
when he removed to Montgomery County. He was elect- 
ed representative from that county to the Legislature in 
1850, but soon after that returned to Hot Springs. Fea- 
therstonhaugh, the English traveler and geologist, visited 
the springs in December, 1834, and decribes the accommo- 
dations as follows: ''Four wretched looking cabins, in 
one of which was a small store, contained all the accom- 
modations that these springs offered to travelers. We 
had never seen anything worse or more unpromising 
than they were, but driving up to the store, a Mr. Whit- 
tington, who purchases bear skins and other skins of wild 
animals of the hunters, paying for them in the commodi- 
ties he gets from Little Rock, was obliging enough to say 
we might take possession of one of the log cabins. Hav- 
ing taken care of our horse we accordingly moved into 
the first that we had passed on our arrival. It had a roof 
to it, as well as a little portico, as a defense against the 
rays of the sun, but this was literally all that it had. for 



Arkansas History 57 

not an article of furniture was there either in the shape 
of a table or chair. The floor was formed of boards 
roughly and unevenly hewn, and unfortuately some of 
them were wanting. ' ' 

The **Old State House" — Ten Sections of Land 
Granted for its Erection (1831). 

Governor John Pope, in his first message to the Gen- 
eral Assembly, October 13, 1829, urged the necessity for 
better quarters in which to conduct the affairs of the ter- 
ritorial government. He gave it, also, as his opinion that 
the United States Government, if properly approached, 
would provide the means for the financing of the neces- 
sary building. Accordingly the General Assembly ad- 
dressed a memorial to Congress upon the subject; the 
merits of which memorial were ably presented at Wash- 
ington both by Governor Pope and Ambrose H. Sevier. 
the delegate to Congress. Thus, on March 2, 1831, Presi- 
dent Andrew Jackson approved an act of Congress ap- 
propriating ten sections of public lands in Arkansas **for 
the purpose of raising a fund for the erection of a public 
building at Little Rock". The said act of Congress left 
the matter of selection and sale of the ten sections to the 
discretion of the Legislature. Whereupon, they, the Gen- 
eral Assembly, passed an act in October, 1831, giving the 
whole ten sections to Robert Crittenden in exchange for 
his residence in Little Rock; which act Governor Pope 
promptly vetoed. Congress then passed another act plac- 
ing the disposal of the lands and the erection of a state- 
house entirely in the hands of Governor Pope. Pope ap- 
pointed Chester Ashley as his agent to select and sell the 
lands. By January, 1833, a sufficient sum had been real- 
ized to warrant the commencement of the building. Orig- 
inal plans were dra^\m, at the instance of Governor 
Pope, by Gideon Shyock, who had designed the Kentucky 
capitol. The latter recommended, as superintending 
architect, George Weigart, who brought Shyock 's plans 
to Little Rock. Fnding the plans as drawn by Shyock 



58 High Lights 

too elaborate, considering the funds available, Govemor 
Pope, with the aid of Mr. Weigart, modified the plans in a 
manner to cut down the cost to the sum which it was ex- 
pected would be realized from the sale of the ten sections 
of land. In the meantime Congress, by an act of June 15, 
1832, had granted the territory another 1,000 acres for 
the erection of a courthouse and jail at Little Rock. 
This '' thousand-acre tract" was sold and the proceeds ap- 
plied to the erection of the statehouse. Again, in 1836, 
Congress gave an additional grant of five sections of 
land towards the completion of the building. Altogether 
there was raised from the sale of the original ten sections 
$31,722; from the sale of the 1,000-acre tract $16,657; 
from the sale of the five sections $38,000. The General 
Assembly of 1840 appropriated $37,000, with which the 
building was finally completed. Thus the total original 
cost of the building amounted to $123,379. The land 
upon which the building was erected was acquired through 
donations by Chester Ashley, David G. Eller and William 
Russell, and by the purchase of three other lots from 
William Russell. The site was conveyed to the Territory 
by deeds from Ashley, Eller and Russell, made on Jan- 
uary 14, 1833. 

Little Rock Incorporated as a Town (1831). 

A law entitled "An Act for the Regulation of the 
Town of Little Rock," passed by the General Assembly, 
was approved by Governor George Izard October 27, 
1825. This, it seems, was the first piece of legislation 
framed for the government of Little Rock. Under this 
act Robert Crittenden, Joseph Henderson, Nicholas Peay, 
Bernard Smith and Isaac Watkins were elected trustees 
for the year 1826. Bernard Smith, chosen by the trustees 
themselves president of the board, was in effect the first 
mayor of the town. Another law, "supplementary" of 
the act of 1825, for the further "regulation of the town," 
was approved by Governor Izard October 20, 1827. In 
this latter act Little Rock is twice mentioned as a "cor- 



Arkansas History 59 

poration". Thus, it may be said that the incorporation 
of Little Rock, in effect, dates from the passage of the act 
of October 20, 1827. But it was not until November 7, 

1831, that the status of the "corporation" was fully de- 
fined as "a body politic and corporate", having a 
"mayor and town council," who, with their successors, 
forever, were entitled to exercise "all the privileges and 
franchises incident to a corporation or body politic". 
Under the latter act Little Rock elected its first mayor 
by popular choice. The election was held on Januarj^ 2, 

1832, and resulted in the election of Dr. Matthew Cun- 
ningham, mayor; Charles Caldwell, Benjamin Clemens, 
David Holt and John McLain, councilmen. 

The Question of Admission to the Union First 
Raised (1833). 

The United States census of 1830 showed that Arkan- 
sas had a population of 30,388, of whom 25,671 were 
whites. In the political campaign of 1831 for delegate to 
Congress the opposing candidates were Ambrose H. Se- 
vier and Capt. Ben Desha. The latter promised that, if 
elected, as soon as Arkansas had the population required 
by law, he would endeavor to secure the passage of a bill 
providing for the admission of Arkansas to statehood. 
Sevier contented himself by saying that until the terri- 
tory had the requisite population, the discussion "of this 
excitable question is premature. ♦ * * When we are out 
of debt, and when we have the population and the means 
to support a State Government, I am as anxious as the 
most impatient to see this territory become at State." 
Sevier was elected, but made no move during that term to 
have Arkansas admitted to the Union. In 1833 Sevier and 
Robert Crittenden were the candidates for delegate to 
Congress. It does not appear that either Crittenden or 
Sevier alluded to the subject during the campaign. Again 
Sevier was elected, defeating Crittenden by nearly two 
thousand votes. At the opening of the twenty-third 
Congress on December 2, 1833, he took his seat in the 



60 High Lights 

House of Representatives and, before the session was 
many days old, introduced a bill providing for the taking 
of a census of the inhabitants of the Territory of Arkan- 
sas, for the purpose of ''ascertaining her eligibility for 
statehood." The bill was referred to the committee on 
territories, which reported favorably. Then, shortly after 
Sevier had introduced his bill providing for a census of 
the territory, and before that measure had been favor- 
ably reported by the committee, a committee of Michigan 
citizens arrived at Washington with petition asking for 
the passage of an act to enable the people of that terri- 
tory to form a constitution and be admitted to statehood. 
Without waiting to consult mth the people of Arkansas, 
Sevier decided to act upon his own initiative. In a letter 
of January 21, 1834, to The Arkansas Gazette, he said: 
"You will perceive that, on yesterday, I introduced a 
resolution inquiring into the expediency of permitting the 
people of Arkansas to form a constitution and come into 
the Union upon an equal footing with the original States. 
I have done this for a variety of reasons. Michigan is 
now apptying for admission and I have every reason to 
believe that her application will be granted. Michigan, 
of course, will be a free State, and should she go into the 
Union as such, the happy balance of political power now 
existing in the Senate will be destroyed, unless a slave 
State should go in with her. The delegate from Flor- 
ida is not now in his place, but were he here, and were 
he to press Florida, it would probably exclude us, and, 
in that event, our admission, in all probability would be 
deferred until Wisconsin should apply. When would this 
application be made? Not for a quarter of a century. 
Such a procrastination would not be willingly subscribed 
to by any of our fellow citizens. Upon the whole, I think 
this not an unfavorable opportunity for our admission. 
At this time, also, we should be able to come in without 
trammels upon the subject of salvery. Having no memo- 
orial from our Legislature upon the subject, and no pe- 
tition from the great body of the people, I have taken 



Arkansas History 61 

upon myself this responsibility. The people cannot be 
injured by my application, inasmuch as their acceptance 
or refusal of a State Government will depend entirely 
upon themselves." A few days after this letter was 
written, a bill was introduced in the Senate to enable the 
people of Arkansas to form a constitution preparatory to 
admission into the Union; a similar bill regarding the 
Territory of Michigan was also introduced in the Senate. 
Both bills were ''laid on the table" near the close of the 
session, and there they remained. 

The First College on Arkansas Soil (1834). 

B, W. McDonald, in his "History of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church," says: "On the 28th day of Oc- 
tober, 1834, a meeting of the Cumberland Presbyterians 
of "Washington County, Arkansas, was held in the Cane 
Hill meeting house for the purpose of taking the neces- 
sary steps to establish a school. * * * This school was 
opened in April, 1835, and was probably kept up in some 
form until seventeen years afterward, when Cane Hill 
College was chartered. This school in the wilderness, 
some say, was the first institution of learning ever es- 
tablished on Arkansas soil. Its prime object was to edu- 
cate young men, preparing them for the work of the min- 
istry." A hewed log house of two rooms was built and 
served as a school building until a few years before the 
commencement of the Civil War. Among the instructors 
was Rev. Cephas Washburn, a missionary widely known 
in the early history of Arkansas. In 1850 a brick build- 
ing was erected, and on December 15, 1852, the collge was 
incorporated by act of the Legislature. At the beginning 
of the year 1861 the college was in a flourishing condition. 
Then many of the young men in attendance joined a com- 
pany of State troops and in May the institution closed its 
doors. The close of the war found the buildings in ruins, 
but in 1868 a frame building was erected and the college 
was reopened, with Rev. F. R. Earle at the head of the 
faculty of three members. Regular terms were held and 



62 High Lights 

classes graduated until October 10, 1885, when the college 
building was burned. Temporary quarters were ob- 
tained and the following year a substantial brick building, 
two stories high, was erected. The last class of graduates 
was that of 1887 — ^two young men and one young woman. 
After struggling along for two years more, the institution 
closed its doors. 

The First Theatrical Performance (1834). 

The following account of the first theatrical perfor- 
mance given in Arkansas is from the Arkansas Gazette 
of November 4, 1834 : '* A first attempt at theatrical per- 
formance was made in this town, last night, by the 'Little 
Rock Thalian Society', in the representation of the com- 
edy of the "Soldier's Daughter", which was performed 
far better than we had anticipated. The theatre has been 
fitted up with much taste and judgment, and the scenery 
does great credit to the talents of the artist. We have 
neither time nor room to speak of the incidental merits 
of the actors — indeed, where all performed their parts 
so well, and so much to the satisfaction of the numerous 
and respectable audience, it would be invidious to par- 
ticularize. As a whole, the performance went off well, 
entitling the young gentlemen engaged in it to much 
credit. The same play will be repeated tomorrow even- 
ing, together with the clebrated farce of "Raising the 
Wind ' ', when we hope all who feel inclined to a few hours ' 
rational amusement will attend, and we feel assured that 
they will not return dissatisfied. It may not be improper 
to add that the receipts of the society, after defraying 
the actul expenses incurred by it in fitting up the house, 
etc., are to be appropriated to charitable purposes." 

A Convention to Frame a State Constitution Caij^d 
— The Last Territorial Legislature (1835). 

What proved to be the last Territorial Legislature 
of Arkansas assembled in Little Rock on October 5, 1835. 



Aekansar History 63 

In his message at the opening of the General Assembly, 
Governor William S. Fulton said : ' ' Considering the pe- 
puniary sacrifices and the increase of burdens which a 
change of government was calculated to produce, I hav(^ 
doubted the expediency of too sudden a change, but I have 
felt no desire to check the tide of popular opinion in favor 
of a State Government; and as the people have willed it. 
I now feel it to be my duty to forward this important 
object by all the means competent to be used by the ex- 
ecutive power of this Territory." The bill authorizing a 
constitutional convention passed the house of representa- 
tives on October 23rd, bv a vote of 27 to 7. and the next 
day it passed the council, 17 to 11. Notwithstanding the 
Governor's declaration that he felt it to be his duty to 
forward this important object, he refused to sign the 
measure. On November 2nd he returned it to the house, 
with a message, in which he said: 

"I regret that I could not approve the bill which 
originated in your house, and which was delivered to me 
some days since, providing for the election of members to 
a convention to frame a constitution and system of gov- 
ernment for the people of Arkansas. * * * My reasons 
for withholding my approval were, because I did not 
believe that the General Assembly of the Territory of 
Arkansas posessssed the power to pass such an act ; and 
that, as the executive officer of a territorial government 
erected by acts of Congress, I had no power to sanction 
or concur in such an act. * * * Both branches of the 
Legislature having passed the bill by such large major- 
ities as clearly to indicate that it would have passed a 
second time in each house, by a majority of more than 
two-thirds, I have considered it useless to return the bill 
to you for reconsideration. Agreeably, therefore, to the 
provision of the organic law, the bill has now become an 
act without my signature, so far as it is consistent with 
the constitution and laws of the United States establish- 
ing a Territorial Government in Arkansas. *' 



64 High Lights 

Little Rock Incorpoeated as a City (1835). 

By 1835 the people of Little Rosk had decided that 
the charter of 1831 was inadequate to meet the demands 
of the rapidly growing town. Consequently, a public 
meeting was called for the evening of October 14. 1835, 
at the Presbyterian Church ''for the purpose of concert- 
ing measures for obtaining from the Legislature a charter 
for our tow^i, which will enable the citizens thereof to pass 
and enforce wholesome laws and ordinances", etc. Rev. 
W. W. Stevenson presided and Lemuel R. Lincoln was 
chosen secretary. According to the Arkansas Gazette's 
account of the meeting, Messrs. Roysdon, Ashley, Rorer, 
Spragiie, Crutchfield, Stevenson and Pike were appointed 
a committee to draft a charter and report to an adjourned 
meeting at the same place on the evening of the 16th. 
At the adjourned meeting Dudley D. Mason was called 
to the chair and C. E. Rice was appointed secretary. The 
report of the committee was amended slightly and unani- 
mously adopted. It was then referred back to the com- 
mittee with instructions to make a correct copy and draft 
a petition to the General Assembly requesting the pass- 
age of a law incorporating the city of Little Rock. The 
committee carried out the instructions, and on November 
2, 1835, Governor William S. Fulton approved the act of 
incorporation. The act provided that the first election for 
city officers should be held on the second Wednesday in 
November, 1835, and that the officers then elected should 
serve until the first Monday in January, 1837. At the 
first election on November 11, 1835, the following officers 
were chosen : James Pitcher, mayor ; William M. Field, 
city judge ; Sterling H. Tucker, recorder ; John N. Boyle, 
treasurer; R. C. Hawkins, superintendent of streets; 
Luther Chase, constable; N. H. Badgett, David G. Eller, 
William Jordan, Benjamin Linebaugh, Daniel Ringo, F. 
M. Rutherford, Henry F. Shaw and R. A. Watkins, 
aldermen. 



Arkansas History 65 

DA\^D Crockett, on his way to Texas, 

Spent the day in Little Rock (1835). 

The following account is taken from the Arkansas 
Gazette of November 17, 1835: "Among the distin- 
guished characters who have honored our city with their 
presence, within the last week, was no less a personage 
than Colonel David Crockett — better known as Davy 
Crockett — the real critter himself — who arrived on 
Thursday evening last, with some six or eight followers, 
from the Western District of Tennessee, on their way to 
Texas, to join the patriots of that country in freeing it 
from the shackles of the Mexican Government. The news 
of his arrival rapidly spread, and we believe we speak 
within bounds when we say that hundreds flocked to see 
the wonderful man, who, it is said, can whip his weight 
in wildcats or grin the largest panther out of the 
highest tree. In the evening, a supper was given him, at 
Jeff eries ' Hotel, by several anti-Jackson men, merely for 
the sport of hearing him abuse the administration, in his 
outlandish style, and we understand they enjoyed a most 
delectable treat in a speech of some length with which he 
amused them. Having no curiosity that way ourself, we 
did not attend the show. But our negihbor of the Advo- 
cate was there, and so delighted was he, that he says he 
can now 'die contented'. Happy man ! The Colonel and 
-his party, all completely armed and well mounted, took 
their departure on Friday morning for Texas, in which 
country, we understand, they intend establishing their 
future abode, and in the defense of which we hope they 
may cover themselves with glory." 

Delegates to the First Constitutional 
Convention Elected (1835). 

Agreeable to the act of the General Assembly pro- 
viding for the holding of a convention to frame a state 
constitution, delegates to such a convention were elected 
on December 8, 1835. Among those elected were not a 



QQ High Lights 

few whose names are distiiiguislied hi Arkansas history. 
Arkansas County elected Bushrod W. Lee; Arkansas and 
Jefferson, Terrence Farrelly; Carroll, John F. King; 
Carroll and Izard, John Adams ; Chicot, John Clark and 
Anthony H. Davies ; Clark, John AVilson ; Conway, Nim- 
rod Menef ree ; Crawford, James Woodson Bates, Kichard 
C. S. Brown and John Drennen ; Crittenden, John D. Cal- 
vert and Wright W. Elliott; Greene, G. L. Martin; 
Hempstead, Grandison D. Royston and James H. Walker ; 
Hot Spring, James C. Conway; Independence, John Ring- 
gold and Townsend Dickinson; Izard, Charles R. Saun- 
ders; Jackson, John Robinson; Jefferson, Samuel C. 
Roame ; Johnson, Lorenzo N. Clarke ; Johnson and Pope, 
Andrew Scott; Lafayette, Josiah N. Wilson; Lawrence 
and Randolph, Thomas S. Drew, David W. Lowe, Henry 
Slavens and Robert Smith; Miller, Travis G. Wright; 
Miller and Sevier, Richard Ellis; Mississippi, Nathan 
Ross; Monroe, Thomas J. Lacy; Phillips, Henry L. Bis- 
coe and George W. Ferebee; Pike, Elijah Kelly; Pope, 
Thomas Murray, Jr.; Pulaski, White and Saline, Wil- 
liam Cummins, Absalom Fowler and John McLain; St. 
Francis, Caleb S. Manly and William Strong; Scott, 
Gilbert Marshall; Sevier, Joseph W. M. Kean; Union, 
Andrew J. May; Van Buren, John J. Lafferty; Wash- 
ington, William McK. Ball, Mark Bean, James Boone, 
Rovery McCamy, David Walker and Abraham ^VTiinnery. 

The First Constitutio^^al Convention (1836). 

The first convention to frame a state constitu- 
tion met on Monday, January 4, 1836, in the Bap- 
tist Church at Little Rock. The next day, January 5, 
f ohn Wilson, of Clark County, was elected president, and 
Charles P. Bertrand, of Little Rock, secretary. The con- 
vention then voted to hold its session in the Presbyterian 
Church, where it met the next day, and continually there- 
after until its work was finished, January 30, 1836, on 
Saturday. C. F. M. Noland, of Independence County, 
was appointed by the convention as its special messenger 



Arkansas History 67 

to carry the new constitution to Washington City for 
presentation to Congress. The constitution was signed 
by all but two of the members of the convention — Nathan 
Ross, of Mississippi County, and David Walker, of Wash- 
ington County. 

Arkansas the Twenty-Fifth State 
Admitted to the Union (1836). 

The people of Arkansas took matters into their own 
hands by framing and submitting a constitution, as had 
been done before upon more than one occasion, without 
waiting for the approval of Con.gress as expressed in the 
formality of an enabling act. The Arkansas Gazette, of 
February 4, 1836, published the proposed constitution of 
Arkansas in full ; a copy of which was received at Wash- 
ington by Ambrose H. Sevier, delegate to Congress, on 
the last day of February. Whereupon, Mr. Sevier, with- 
out waiting for C. F. M. Noland, who did not arrive with 
the official copy of the constitution until March 8th, pre- 
sented it to Congress as he found it published in the Ga- 
zette. James Buchanan, of Pennsylvanian, reported a 
bill in the Senate for the admission of Arkansas into the 
Union. A bill for the admission of Michigan, as intro- 
duced by Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, was passed by 
the Senate April 2nd. The Arkansas bill was then taken 
up and passed two days later, on April 4th. Both bills 
were passed in the House of Representatives on June 
13th; both were approved also on the same day, June 
15th, by President Andrew Jackson. Owing to certain 
provisions in the Michigan bill, which had to be voted on 
by the people, Michigan was not finally admitted until 
January 26, 1837. Thus Arkansas, admitted June 15, 
1836, is the twenty-fifth State in the Union. 

The United States Arsenal 

at Little Rock Begun (1836). 

Congress provided for the establishment of an ar- 
senal at Little Rock in the spring of ]8m. On the 26tli 



68 High Lights 

of September, Lieut. F. L. Jones arrived in the city to 
select the site. A tract of thirty-six acres was recom- 
mended and was purchased by the Government from Haw- 
kins, McLain and Blodgett for $3,000. Maj. Richard B. 
Lee was placed in charge of the construction, and in the 
spring of 1837 submitted the plans to Gov. J. S. Conway, 
who on May 24, 1837, wrote to Major Lee suggesting that 
the appropriation of $14,000 was too small to provide an 
arsenal of sufficient capacity. A few months later Lee 
advised the governor that the appropriation had been 
increased to $40,000 and that the work would be com- 
menced immediately. The plan of the arsenal enbraced 
the storehouse and officers' quarters, fronting toward 
Ninth Street ; the barracks, on the south side of a square, 
the east and west sides of which were to be occupied by 
the gun sheds, shops, etc. On May 15, 1838, Senator 
William S. Fulton wrote to the Arkansas Gazette that he 
had just received information from the Ordnance De- 
partment that the following arms and munitions had been 
ordered to Little Rock: 

16 six-pounder cannon, 

1,800 charges of grapeshot, etc., 

8,500 muskets, 

1,500 Hall's rifles, 

30 barrels of rifle powder, 

7,000 pounds of rifle balls, 

1,000,000 musket cartridges, 

8,500 infantry accouterments, 

1,500 rifle accouterments. 

These supplies, amounting to 100 tons, arrived on the 
steamboats ''Elk" and ''Little Rock" on June 23, 1838, 
and the arsenal soon afterward "went into commission". 
Work on the buildings went on for several years, the total 
cost of the arsenal being nearly $100,000. At the begin- 
ning of the war between the States, in the spring of 1861. 
the arsenal was peaceably surrendered to the State au- 



Arkansas History ^^ 

thorities. After the war it was continued as an army 
post until 1893, when the citizens of Little Rock acquired 
1,000 acres of land on Bi^ Rock, on the north side of the 
river, which was offered to the Government in exchange 
for the old arsenal ^^ronnds. The offer was accepted and 
the new fort named Logan H. Roots, after Colonel Logan 
H. Roots, who had been active in effecting the exchange. 
Thus the old arsenal grounds became the property of the 
city and was converted into what is known now as the 
City Park. 

The First State Election (1836). 

As provided by the constitution, the first State elec- 
tion in Arkansas was held August 1, 1836. State con- 
ventions, much less primary elections, had not then come 
into general use. Nominations were most commonly 
made in local public meetings, to which all the citizens 
of the county, for example, were invited. The first such 
mass meeting, for the purpose of nominating canidates 
for the office of governor and members of Congress, was 
held at Fayetteville, on May 14, 1836. Robert McCamy 
was elected chairman of the meeting; which adopted, as 
the important part of its proceeding, a resolution favor- 
ing James S. Conway for governor; Archibald Yell, for 
Congress; and recommending the election of Ambrose 
H. Sevier to the United States Senate by the General 
Assembly. A similar meeting was held June 4th in Law- 
rence County. A mass meeting of citizens of Pulaski, 
White and Saline Counties was held at Little Rock on 
June 18th. Both the latter endorsed the candidates nomi- 
nated at Fayetteville in May. Meanwhile, a committee 
of the Fayetteville meeting, composed of B. H. Smithson, 
Isaac Murphy, J. M. Hoge, James Boone and Onesimus 
Evans, had communicated with Mr. Conway for the pur- 
pose of inducing him to become a candidate. And, on July 
5th, after the meetings in Lawrence and Pulaski, his ac- 
ceptance of the nomination was published in The Ar- 
kansas Gazette. Thus Conway for governor, Yell for 



70 High Lights 

Congress and Martin Van Buren for President of the 
United States headed the ticket of what was then known 
as the Democratic-Republicans. An opposition ticket was 
got into the field in the same manner. The opposition, 
which called itself the People's ticket, nominated Absa- 
lom Fowler for governor; William Cummins, for Con- 
gress, and supported Hugh L. White for President. Of 
the votes cast for governor, Conway received 5,338; 
Fowler, 3,222. For Congress Yell received 6,094 ; Cum- 
mins, 2,379. 

This campaign really marked the beginning of politi- 
cal parties in Arkansas. During the territorial period 
the people were frequently divided into factions, follow- 
ing personal leaders, and these factions have somtimes 
been erroneously referred to as parties. That the party 
spirit was not fully developed in 1836 is seen in the names 
given to the opposing tickets, to-wit: ''Democratic-Re- 
publican Ticket" and ''People's Ticket." They subse- 
quently became known as the Democratic and Whig par- 
ties, respectively. In the campaign the former was re- 
ferred to by the Fowler supporters as the "Van Buren 
Ticket". 

The Fiest State Legislature (1836). 

The constitution of 1836 provided that the General 
Assembly should consist of a Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives; that the Senate should consist of not fewer 
than seventeen and not more than thirty-three members ; 
that the House should consist of not fewer than fifty-four 
nor more than one hundred members; and divided the 
State into districts for the election of members of the 
two houses. It was also provided that the members elect- 
ed on the first Monday in August should meet on the 
second Monday in September. The statehouse, though 
not completed, was put in condition for the session, which 
assembled therein on Monday, September 12, 1836. Sam- 
uel C. Roame was elected president of the senate; John 
Wilson, speaker of the house of representatives. 



Arkansas History 71 

James S. Conway^ First Governor 

OF THE State, Inaugurated (1836). 

A public meeting was held in Little Kock on the 
afternoon of September 12, 1836, with Mayor James 
Pitcher presiding, for the purpose of planning a fitting 
public demonstration in celebration of the event of the 
first inauguration of a governor of the State. James De 
Ba — was selected as marshal and given full power to ap- 
point his aides. Shortly after noon on the 13th a pro- 
cession was formed and moved to Governor-elect Con- 
way's residence to escort him to the capitol. First came 
Captain Kavanaugh's company of mounted volunteer's 
then a band of music, next carriages containing Mr. Con- 
way, W. S. Fulton, A. H. Sevier, Judge Edward Cross, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Rector and Captain Brown, of the 
United States Army, and the carriages were followed 
by a large body of citizens. Upon arriving at the capitol, 
Governor Conway was conducted to the Hall of Repre- 
sentatives, where he delivered a short inaugural address. 
The oath of oflQce was then administered by Albert Pike, 
after which a salute of twenty-six guns were fired. The 
procession then reformed and escorted the governor 
back to his home. 

The Real Estate Bank Incorporated (1836). 

The Constitution of 1836 authorized the General As- 
sembly to incorporate two banks — ''one State Bank, with 
such amount of capital as may be deemed necessary, and 
such number of branches as may be required for public 
convenience," etc., and "one other banking institution, 
caluculated to aid and promote the great agricultural in- 
terests of the country. * * * " Accordingly, the first 
General Assembly of the State passed, and Governor 
James S. Conway approved October 26, 1836, an act in- 
corporating a "Real Estate Bank"; which bank was 
intended to forward the agricultural interests of Arkan- 
sas . Agreeable to the language of the constitution, the 



72 High Lights 

act of incorporation provided also for the raising of funds 
as capital for the bank upon a pledge of the faith and 
credit of the State. Thus, the original charter called for 
an issue of $2,000,000 in bonds by the State, the bonds to 
bear interest at the rate of six per cent, the proceeds 
from the sale of which were to constitute the working 
capital of the bank. In return for the loan of it credit as 
security against the loss of its $2,000,000 in bonds, the 
State took mortgages on the real estate of the stock- 
holders of the bank. The stockholders mortgaged a total 
of 127,500 acres of land to the State, which they claimed 
was worth $48 dollars an acre, or a total value of $6,- 
120,000, to secure the pa^Tnent of the $2,000,000 in bonds. 
Disinterested appraisers valued the land at $2,603,000, 
and many thought these figures too high, an opinion fully 
sustained by subsequent developments. The main bank 
was located at Little Rock, with branches at Helena, Phi- 
lips County; at Columbia, Chicot County, and at Wash- 
ington, Hempstead County. By this arrangement the 
northwestern part of the State deemed itself neglected. 
And on February 24, 1838, Governor Conway approved 
an act authorizing a fourth branch, to be located at Van 
Buren, Crawford County, and the issuance of $500,000 
in bonds to procure its capital. The stockholders of this 
branch mortgaged to the State 79,601 acres of land, 
valued at $751,830. In September, 1838, the central board 
of directors disposed of 1,530 of the bonds at par ($1,- 
530,000). The Treasurer of the United States purchased 
500 of these bonds, to be held in trust for the benefit of 
the Smithsonian Institution; Joseph D. Beers, of New 
York purchased 1,000 ; and the other thirty were sold to 
Richard M. Johnson, then Vice-President of the United 
States. On December 12, 1838, the main bank at Little 
Rock opened its doors for business. The Helena branch 
was opened February 15, 1839 ; the Columbia branch on 
the 5th of March following, and the Washington branch 
on the first of April On October 31, 1839, the loans and 
discounts of the parent bank and branches amounted to 



Arkansas History '^ 

$1,585,190.80. Two days later the parent bank at Little 
Rock suspended specie payment, a policy which was 
quickly followed by all the branches. Then the trouble 
commenced. Suspension of specie payment was expressly 
prohibited by the bank's charter, which provided, among 
other things, that for every refusal to redeem its notes 
and obligations in current money of the United States, 
the injured party might recover damages at the rate of 
ten per cent per annum on the full amount of the note in 
question. Nor was there any good reason for suspension. 
At the time the order was issued the bank's outstanding 
circulation was $156,910, its loans and discounts exceeded 
its capital by only $85,190.80, and it had in its vaults in 
gold and sivler $111,967.54— a much larger specie reserve 
than banks of that day were accustomed to carry. Under 
an act of the General Assembly, approved January 15, 
1855, Governor Elias N. Conway, appointed William R. 
Miller and William M. Gauge, expert accountants, to in- 
vestigate the Real Estate Bank. They made a report 
on June 27, 1856, by which the gross assets of the bank 
were shoA\m to be $5,006,507, more than half of which, or 
$2,514,500, the accountants found to be worthless. This 
left as the net assets $2,492,007. The liabilities amounted 
to $2,415,759. By foreclosure of the mortgages on the 
lands given it as security against the loss of its bonds, the 
State eventually recovered, for the most part, the money 
which it had borrowed for and advanced to the bank. 
Of the so-called Holford bonds, or the $500,000 in bonds 
issued under the act of 1838, which bonds were intended 
to procure capital for the opening of a branch bank at 
Van Buren, the history is given elsewhere. 

The State Bank of Arkansas Incorporated (1836). 

The constitution of 1836 authorized the establish- 
ment of a State bank. Accordingly the first General As- 
sembly lost no time in creating such a bank. A charter, in 
the form of an act of the General Assembly, was approved 
by Governor James S. Conway November 2, 1836 — just a 



74 High Lights 

week after his approval of a similar act incorporating 
the Real Estate Bank. Thus the ''faith and credit" of 
the State was capitalized to the amount of another $1,- 
000,000 by the issue of bonds bearing interest at the rate 
of five per cent ; which $1,000,000, with the surplus prom- 
ised from the Treasury of the United States, the five per 
cent fund from the sale of public lands, the seminary and 
salt springs funds, were expected to furnish all the cap- 
ital necessary for such a bank. The main bank was to be 
located at Little Rock, with branches at Batesville and 
Fayetteville. A third branch was afterward established 
at Arkansas Post, by an act of the General Assembly 
of 1837. In 1838 a fourth branch was provided for at 
Washington. Unlike the Real Estate Bank, the State 
Bank had no private stockholders. It was a public trust, 
created to be the fiscal agent of the State ; the State fur- 
nished its capital ; the State assumed sole responsibility 
for its debts. The Legislature had absolute power to di- 
rect its affairs. Owing to the low rate of interest pro- 
vided for, five per cent, only $169,000 was realized from 
the sale of the original bond issue of $1,000,000. In 1837 
another issue of $1,000,000 in bonds was authorized at 
six per cent ; and, in 1838, still another, of $300,000. Of 
these several bond issues, there were sold, first and last, 
but $1,169,000 worth. The bank received $286,156 as sur- 
plus revenue from the United States Treasury. The five 
per cent fund yielded $26,725. On November 1, 1839, 
the bank suspended specie payment. Its outstanding 
circulation then amounted to $43,420 and it had on hand 
the sum of $76,678.17 in specie. In 1842, by act of the 
General Assembly, the bank was placed in liquidation. 
The process of liquidating assets, accounting for losses by 
defalcation and what not, was continued until 1860, when 
it was found that, of the 1,169 bonds sold for $1,000 each, 
there were then 610 bonds unredeemed. The unpaid in- 
terest on the bonds amounted to $677,717, which, added 
to the principal, made a debt against the State of $1,- 
287,717. During the war nothing was done about the 



Arkansas History 75 

debt. The debt was funded in 1868, when new bonds were 
issued for $1,147,522 as the debt then outstanding against 
the State on account of the State Bank. 

The First Steam Ferry Boat on thb 
Arkansas River (1838). 

The Arkansas Gazette of July 4, 1838, contained the 
following account of the first steam ferry on the Arkan- 



''We are gratified in being able to announce the ar- 
rival, on Wednesday morning last, of the steam ferry- 
boat Little Rock, which was built expressly for the lower 
ferry at this place, where she will commence running so 
soon as the necessary floats or wharf-boats can be con- 
structed on each side of the river, for her to land at. 

''This boat was built at Cincinnati, since March last, 
under the personal superintendence of Capt. Thomas J. 
Haldeman (The late commander of the steam-boat Ar- 
kansas), and is one of the strongest built boats on the 
Western waters. She is 86 feet long by 33 feet wide, to 
the extremity of her guards, with 314 feet depth of hold, 
and has a beautiful new engine of sufficient strength and 
power to give her speed equal to most of the boats on the 
Arkansas. Her trip from Cincinnati to this place was 
made in eight days and 18 hours, with between 30 and 40 
tons of freight on board ; and she has since her arrival 
given evidence of the great power of her engine by tow- 
ing a flat-bottomed boat (nearly 90 feet long by over 18 
feet wide), with nearly 50,000 feet of plank and scant- 
ling, a distance of nearly 40 miles. She has a comfort- 
able cabin for passengers, officers' room, cook room, etc., 
with capacious gangways (forward and on each side of 
the boilers) sufficient for two of the largest wagons and 
teams, 3 or 4 smaller carriages, 20 or 30 head of horses 
or cattle, with sufficient other room for more than 200 
foot passengers. 



76 High Lights 

"Travelers may now rely on having a safe and ex- 
peditious mode of crossing the Arkansas, at the lower 
ferry, at all stages of the river, which will probably tend 
as much toward the prosperity of our thriving town as 
any other improvement, to the same extent, that could 
be made. 

"It is expected that she will commence plying regu- 
larly on the ferry in the course of next week — at all 
events, as soon as the wharf -boats can be prepared." 

Arkansas a Mission of the Episcopal Church (1838). 

On September 16, 1838, Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk was 
elected missionary bishop of Arkansas by the Episcopal 
convention at Philadelphia. When news of this reached 
the state, the Arkansas Gazette of October 31, 1838, 
said: "This will be pleasing intelligence to the Episco- 
palians in this state, many of whom have not heard the 
peculiar service of their church for many years. Churches 
of various denominations have been established in all 
parts of Arkansas, but we do not believe that a minister 
of this denomination has ever preached within our 
bounds." Polk was bom in North Carolina in 1806; 
graduated at the West Point Military Academy in 1827 ; 
attended the Episcopal Theological Seminary at Alex- 
andria, Virginia; was ordained priest in 1830; was ap- 
pointed missionary bishop of the southwest on Septem- 
ber 16, 1838, a field covering Alabama, Arkansas, Indian 
Territory, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. On May 
20, 1841, this territory was di^dded and he was made 
bishop of the separate diocese of Louisiana. At the be- 
ginning of the Civil War he entered the Confederate 
army and was killed at Pine Mountain, Georgia, June 15, 
1864. In the spring of 1840 Bishop Polk sent Rev. Wil- 
liam H. C. Yeager to Little Rock and a small congrega- 
tion was organized, which developed into Christ Church 
parish. Among the original members of this church were; 
John H. Crease, Gordon N. Peay, T. D. Merrick, William 



Arkansas History 77 

E. Ashley, John E. Reardon, Lavinia Reardon, Mrs. 
Helen Scott and Miss Harrit Grafton. 

The Arkansas Grand Lodge of Masons Organized (1838). 

On November 21, 1838, representatives of four Ma- 
sonic lodges organized, at Little Rock, the Grand Lodge 
of Arkansas. These four lodges, which thus effected the 
organization of the Grand Lodge, were then the only- 
Masonic lodges in the state. They were: Washington 
Lodge, of Fayetteville, organized in 1836 ; Western Star 
Lodge, of Little Rock, organized in February, 1838; 
Morning Star Lodge, of Arkansas Post, organized in 
1838 ; Mount Horeb Lodge, of Washington, organized in 
1838. William Gilchrist was elected the first Grand Mas- 
ter; George C. Watkins, the first Grand Secretary. In 
the new organization, Washington Lodge became No. 1 ; 
Western Star, No. 2 ; Morning Star, No. 3 ; Mount Hor^b, 
No. 4. 

The Arkansas Penitentiay Established (1838). 

On December 13, 1838, Gov. James S. Conway ap- 
proved an act of the General Assembly making an ap- 
propriation of $20,000 for a penitentiary, to be located 
at some point convenient to the seat of government. 
Commissioners were appointed to select a site. On July 
24, 1839, they reported that they had purchased from 
P. T. Crutchfield 92.41 acres, ''about a mile and a quar- 
ter west of Little Rock, for $20 per acre." Construction 
of a prison was commenced soon after the purchase of 
the location, but the building was not completed until 
1842. Four years after the penitentiary was first occu- 
pied as a prison, the main building was destroyed by fire, 
during a revolt of a few of the convicts bent upon mak- 
ing their escape. The Arkansas Democrat of July 31, 
1846, says : "The main building of the penitentiary was 
destroyed by fire on Thursday, the 30th of July. * * * * 
The most immediate cause of the revolt and destruction 



78 High Lights 

of the building was the recent and entire change in the 
agents and keepers of the prison, by which raw and in- 
experienced men were placed in charge of the prisoners. 
We understand that only five of the convicts (including 
Morgan, who was killed by another convict on the side 
of the keepers,) were actively concerned in the revolt, 
and that some ten or twelve of the convicts declared them- 
selves ready to aid the keepers, and several of them did 
actually render efficient service. " On December 23, 1846, 
Governor Thomas S. Drew approved an act providing 
for the rebuilding of the penitentiary, at a cost not to 
exceed $10,000, and the contract was let to George Brodie 
for that amount. The new building was occupied in 
1849. During the early years of the Civil War, Federal 
prisoners were confined in the penitentiary, and after 
Little Rock was occupied by the Union forces commanded 
by General Frederick Steele in September, 1863, it was 
converted into a place for the confinement of Confed- 
erate prisoners. The General Assembly of 1899 pro- 
vided for the erection of the New State capitol on the 
site of the old penitentiary. A new site for the peniten- 
tiary was afterwards acquired in the southwestern part 
of Little Rock, where the State's prison kno-uTi as ''the 
Walls" was completed and occupied in 1910. 

The First Theatre for Professionals Opened; Albert 
Pike's Poem in Honor of the Occasion (1839). 

From the Arkansas Gazette, January 23, 1839 : ' ' The 
new theatre, under the management of Mr. Waters, 
opened on Wednesday night last. The house was crowded 
with a respectable audience, and we were gratified to 
observe that the ''dress circle" Avas filled with a great 
share of the beauty and fashion of the city, which will 
vie with any in the Union for appearance and propor- 
tionate numbers. 

"Previous to the performance, a pretty little address, 
written for the occasion, by Albert Pike, Esq., was deliv- 
ered by Mrs. Waters, which will be found below. The 



Arkansas History 79 

pieces on the first night were Charles the Second, and 
the 'Young Widow,' which were performed to the de- 
light of the audience. 

'*Por a small company, the performers are very ef- 
fective, and combine considerable dramatic talent — suffi- 
cient, at all events, to render their acting highly amus- 
ing, and frequently intensely interesting, as the tearful 
eyes of a portion of the audience sometimes testify. 
Messrs. Douglass, Wharam, Waters, McCurdy and 
Wolfe, would do credit to any theatre, and the ladies of 
the establishment, Mrs. Waters and Miss Armstrong, in 
some of their characters cannot be surpassed. 

"We are somewhat surprised that so few of our coun- 
try friends visit the theatre. The nights are now moon- 
lit and pleasant; the performances close at an early 
hour, and a ride of six or eight miles on a brisk pony 
would not be unpleasant, particularly if there were a lot 
of lively girls in company. Besides good acting they 
would sometimes hear good singing and see good danc- 
ing; Sam Waters does all that himself. 

"We see our fastidious neighbors of the Times are 
getting somewhat severe in their strictures on the char- 
acter of the pieces performed. For our part, we see no 
occasion for it ; a bit of harmless pleasantrj^ on the stage 
gives the entertainments a zest, and if people don 't wish 
to be thought to like it, why, they needn't appear to un- 
derstand it." 



80 High Lights 

ADDRESS 

On the opening of the Little Rock Theatre, 

By Albert Pike. 

Delivered by Mrs. Waters. 

(Behind the scenes) 

Now don't persuade me — for I cannot do it. 
(Coming forward) 

You barbarous man. I never shall get through it. 

(Going round as if to escape) 

No door left open! Where, where shall I go? 
Wliat shall I do? I'll faint with fright, I know. 

(Coming forward) 

I'm so confused ; I'll speak — oh, no ! I do not dare ; 
And yet you look good-natured, I declare. 
Ladies! will you hear what I have to say 
In my good man's behalf? I will not long delay. 
Here late the Indian held undoubted sway — 
(Those not yet old, can recollect the day;) 
Here, where we stand, a dense, dark forest stood, 
And the Arkansas rolled its troubled flood, 
Through pathless wilderness, to the ocean. 
All now is changed, Life, with its constant motion, 
Is eddying here, and wit, and grace, and beauty, 
Approve our humble efforts, and make duty 
A pleasure exquisite, while we engage, 
The first time here to introduce the stage. 
Here have we cast our lot, in pleasant places. 
And yours already are familiar faces. 
Here do we hope to pass our future days, 
Cheer 'd by the kindly guerdon of your praise. 
Like mariners wafted by pleasant breeze. 
Graced by your kindness, we still hope to please, 



Arkansas History 81 

To give for reprehension or rebuke no cause, 

But still become more worthy your applause. 

Our object to amuse — be not severe, 

Nor listen with too critical an ear ; 

But view our efforts with indulQ:ent eye, 

And pass our imperfections lightly by. 

Scan not too closely our poor bill of fare, 

Since to improve it is our daily care. 

Until a nightly banquet we insure 

Fit for the palate of an epicure. 

We have no fears — a generous audience 

Gives to the trembling actress confidence ; 

Cheers the rough road — the heavy task makes light, 

And gives new zeal on each returning night. 

We are resolved to please — and we will do it ; 

And now, kind friends, say — shall Sam Waters 



The First Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows Organized (1839). 

The following advertisement appeared in the Ar- 
kansas Gazette of August 7, 1839 : 

I. o. 0. F. 

Far West Lodge No. 1 of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows of the State of Arkansas will be opened in 
the City of Little Eock, on Monday, the 12th inst., after 
which the installation of officers will take place according 
to ancient usage. 

Transient brethren and brethren in good standing 
are invited to attend. By order. 

Little Rock, August 5, 1839. 
The Beginning of Coal Mining in Arkansas (1840) 

The Arkansas Gazette of January 15, 1840, pub- 
lished the following news: ''Mr. Walker, a gentleman 
practically acquainted with coal mining operations, left 



82 HioH Lights 

at our office, a few days since, a specimen of excellent 
anthracite coal, which he had procured on land belong- 
ing to Mr. E. B. Alston, at Spadra Bluff, in Johnson 
county, a few yards from the bank of the Arkansas. 
From a partial experiment we made in burning it, we 
think it the best we have ever seen, from the fact of its 
igniting more freely than any coal of the kind used east 
of the Alleghanies. This is the first anthracite we 
recollect hearing of being found west of the mountains, 
and will no doubt prove a profitable source of business 
to the miners, and an economical fuel for domestic and 
manufacturing purposes. Mr. Walker has leased the 
land of Mr. Alston, and gone to the north to procure 
laborers acquainted with the business, with a view of 
immediately entering on the prosecution of it. We 
have no doubt that in a few months such of our citizens 
as wish for a more economical fuel than we have here- 
tofore been using will be able to obtain a supply of this 
coal, which will make a saving of full fifty per cent in 
the cost of the article. The mere price paid for haul- 
ing wood in Little Eock would more than pay the whole 
cost of the anthracite. The additional comfort of its 
use will prove a great inducement to burn it when our 
citizens once become acquainted with it and familiar 
with the process of igniting it, the difficulty of which is 
the only objection we ever heard urged as:ainst it. One 
good fire of it will, in ordinary weather in this climate, 
last the whole day without replenishing, and prove a 
saving, not only of money, but of the annoyance of con- 
stantly replenishing a wood fire to preserve an even 
temperature. ' ' 

The "Arkansas Traveler" — How it Originated (1840). 

The tune of the "Arkansas Traveler" belongs, no 
doubt, to that class of music commonly known as folk 
songs. As such, it is not, of course, the composition of 
ony one person. But the fact seems to be pretty well 
established that Sandford C. Faulkner was the man 



Abkansas History 83 

who brought the air into prominence and for that reason 
came to be known as the original "Arkansas Traveler", 
Sandford C. Faulkner was born in Georgetown, Ken- 
tucky, March 3, 1803. In 1829 he came to Arkansas and 
located in Chicot county, where he became interested in 
cotton planting. Ten years later he removed to Little 
Rock. During the Civil War he was captain of ordnance 
at the arsenal until Little Rock was occupied by the 
Federals in 1863. He then went to Texas, where he re- 
mained until the close of the war. Returning to Little 
Rock, he again engaged in business as a planter until a 
few years before his death, when he sold his two plan- 
tations and lived practically retired from active business. 
He died on August 4, 1874. In a notice of his death 
the Arkansas Gazette of the 5th said: **It is well 
known throughout the Southwest that Colonel Faulkner 
was the original impersonator of the 'Arkansas 
Traveler', and it was his pride to be known as such. 
The story, it is said, was founded on a little incident 
which occurred in the campaign of 1840, when he made 
the tour of the state in company with the Hon. A. H. 
Sevier, Governor Fulton, Chester Ashley and Governor 
Yell. One day, in the Boston Mountains, the party ap- 
proached a squatter's cabin for information of the route 
and Colonel 'Sandy' was made spokesman of the 
company, and it was upon his witty response the tune 
and the story were founded. On the return to Little 
Rock, a grand banquet was given in the famous 'bar- 
room' which used to stand near the Anthony House, and 
Colonel 'Sandy' was called on to play a tune and tell the 
story. Afterward it grew in popularity. When he 
went to New Orleans, the fame of the 'Arkansas 
Traveler' had gone before him, and at a banquet, amid 
clinking glasses and brilliant toasts, he was handed a 
violin by the then governor of Louisiana and requested 
to favor them with the favorite Arkansas tune. At the 
old St. Charles Hotel a special room was devoted to his 
use, bearing in gilt letters over the door, 'Arkansas 
Traveler'." 



84 High Lights 

FoET Smith (Incoepoeated 1842). 

The "town of Fort Smith" was incorporated by an 
act of the General Assembly approved December 24, 
1842. Major Stephen H. Long selected, in 1817, as a 
suitable location for the erection of a military post, a 
point of land between the Arkansas and Poteau rivers. 
''In allusion to its peculiar beauty," as he said. Major 
Long called the place "Belle Point". Later, the next 
year perhaps. General Thomas A. Smith, then in com- 
mand of the Ninth Military Department, appointed 
Major William Bradford commandant of the post and 
ordered him to erect the necessary fort. By September, 
1820, the buildings of the fort, though only partially 
completed, "formed two sides of a hollow square, termi- 
nated by strong blockhouses at the opposite angles and 
fronting towards the river". Meantime, the name of the 
post had been changed to Fort Smith, in honor of the 
commander of the military department in which the new 
fort was situated. Major AVilliam Bradford was com- 
mandant until February, 1822, when he was succeeded 
by Colonel Matthew Arbuckle. The western boundary 
of Arkansas from the Arkansas river to the Red river, 
as fixed by the Choctaw treaty of 1825, began at the Ar- 
kansas "one hundred paces east of Fort Smith". Thus, 
in 1837, or perhaps 1838, it was decided to abandon the 
old fort and erect a new one on the border within the 
boundaries of Arkansas. The site selected is the site 
of the present city of Fort Smith. As a military reser- 
vation, the United States Goverimient bought there of 
Captain John Rogers a tract of 296 acres, "having a 
front of 100 yards on the south side of the Arkansas 
river, immediately below the Choctaw^ line"; which was 
to say, just east of the western boundary. The new fort 
was begun in July, 1838. The original plan provided for 
a quadrangle enclosure 450 by 600 feet, walled with stone, 
with barracks, officers' quarters, etc., inside the walls. 
By 1842, though the fort was incomplete, the Government 
had spent $120,000. Nor was it ever completed, though 



Arkansas History 85 

it was occupied continually until 1871. The town grew 
up around the fort. Captain Rogers, founder of the 
town, laid off 160 acres of his land in town lots in 1837. 
He had built already a large warehouse there ; was then 
engaged in all kinds of "storage, forwarding and com- 
mission business". And, by December, 1842, the place 
had grown sufficiently to induce the General Assembly 
to incorporate it as a town. 

The Catholic Diocese op Little Rock 
Established (1843). 

The Diocese of Little Rock was formed by the 
Catholic Church in 1843. It embraced the State of Ar- 
kansas and the Indian Territory, and on March 10, 1844, 
Rt. Rev. Andrew^ Byrne was consecrated bishop of the 
Diocese. He was born in Navan, Ireland, December 5, 
1802. When about eighteen years of age he came with 
Bishop England to America and was ordained priest at 
Charleston, South Carolina, November 11, 1827. A few 
years later he was transferred to New York, where he 
became known as a preacher of great power. When he 
came to Little Rock to take charge of his new diocese he 
brought with him Fathers Corry and Donohue, who were 
the only priests in the state for some time. Bishop 
Byrne died at Helena, Arkansas, on June 10, 1862. 
During the Civil War and until February 3, 1867, the 
diocese of Little Rock was without a bishop. Then the 
Rt. Rev. Edward Fitzgerald was consecrated. He ar- 
rived at Little Rock on March 17, 1867, and during the 
year visited the principal cities and towns of the state, 
traveling on horseback, by steamboat and stage. Prob- 
ably the most noted event that occurred during his 
bishopric was the building of St. Andrew's Cathedral at 
Little Rock, the corner-stone of which was laid on July 
7, 1878. It was dedicated on November 29, 1881. 

The First Public Library (1843). 

The first library in Little Rock, and the first in 
Arkansas of which any definite knowledge can be ob- 



86 High Lights 

tained, was established by William E. Woodruff in 1843. 
It was not a free library, but the books were intended for 
circulation among those who were willing to pay a small 
annual fee. Each book carried the following label: 
** Little Rock Circulating Library. Established by 
William E. Woodruff in the year 1843. Please read and 
return in two weeks. Price $2 per year." Mr. Wood- 
ruff's library contained most of the best histories, ancient 
and modern ; practically all of the standard novels, books 
of travel, biography, scientific works and a number of the 
leading poets. There was not much of what could be 
called ''light reading", for the founder's taste did not 
run in that direction. He was fond of lyric and de- 
scriptive poetry and used to express his gratification 
that it was his privilege to set type on the first volume 
of Tom Moore's poems ever printed in America. Mr. 
Woodruff's library came to a somewhat tragic end. 
While the Federal troops were in possession of Little 
Rock the books were stored in the home of Alden Wood- 
ruff. A fire broke out in a building near by and the 
contents of Mr. Woodruff's house were carried into the 
street, preparatory to removal to a place of safety, in 
case it became necessary. Soldiers passing by helped 
themselves to books and in this way many of the most 
valuable were lost. So few remained that the library 
was never reopened. 

War with Mexico; the Response of Arkansas 
TO the Cai.l for Volunteers (1846). 

The annexation of Texas by tlie United States, ef- 
fected by act of Congress approved March 1, 1845, was 
highly displeasing to the Mexican Government; which 
still entertained hope, in spite of the ten years since 
Texas had won its independence, of reconquering the 
country. Upon annexation General Zachary Taylor, in 
command of the military forces of the United States in 
the Southwest, was ordered to take possession of the 
country to the Rio Grapde. Early in 1846 the Mexicans 



Arkansas History 87 

began mobilizing an army along the Rio Grrande, across 
the river from General Taylor's army of occupation. 
The first conflict of arms occurred May 8, 1846, at Palo 
Alto. Thereupon the United States, by act of Congress, 
approved May 11, 1846, declared ''war already exists 
by act of the Mexican Government". On the same day 
the President was authorized to call for 50,000 volunteers 
for the war. Arkansas was called upon to furnish one 
regiment of mounted men for service in Mexico, and one 
battalion to guard the western frontier of the state. The 
latter was made necessary because the regular garrisons 
in the western forts were ordered to Mexico. As soon 
as the requisition reached Gov. Thomas S. Drew, he is- 
sued his proclamation calling upon the able-bodied men 
of the state to enlist for such service and to rendezvous 
at Washington, the county seat of Hempstead county. 
Perhaps no other state in the Union had as great an in- 
centive for entering the war as Arkansas. Next door 
to Texas, they were as "brothers of one family". Many 
of the Americans from the states east of the Mississippi, 
on their way to Texas, had passed through Arkansas, 
and some of them had lived for a while in the state before 
continuing their journey. For years the letters of 
Stephen F. Austin, giving an account of the progress of 
his colony, had appeared in the newspapers and had 
been read vdth. intense interest by the people of the state. 
From 1835 until the declaration of war in 1846, the Ar- 
kansas newspapers had constantly published news of the 
Texas revolution and had openly expressed sympathy 
with the struggle the Americans there were making for 
independence. This expression of sympathy found an 
echo in the hearts of the Arkansans. It awakened public 
sentiment in favor of the revolutionists and stirred up the 
fighting spirit. The leaders of the revolution were well 
known and popular in Arkansas. When General Sam 
Houston, after the inhuman massacre at the Alamo, called 
upon the people of the United States for assistance, a 
large number of young men from Arkansas had rallied 



88 High Lights 

to the standard of the ''Lone Star Republic". Then, 
too, the people of Arkansas were firm in the belief that 
for ten years or more Mexican influences had been ac- 
tively exerted among the Lidians to incite them to make 
war upon the settlements of the western frontier. The 
call for volunteers gave them an opportunity to settle old 
scores, and the prompt response of the Arkansans 
evinced an ardent desire on the part of the people of the 
state that the settlement be both summary and final. 

Arkansas at the Battle of Buena Vista (1847). 

Wlien war was declared with Mexico Colonel Archi- 
bald Yell, then a member of Congress, immediately re- 
signed his seat and returned to Arkansas, where he en- 
listed as a private in the Arkansas regiment of Mounted 
Volunteers. At Washington, Arkansas, where the or- 
ganization of the regiment was perfected, he was elected 
colonel. From Washington the Arkansas troops 
marched overland to Mexico, where they were attached 
to General Wood's division of General Taylor's army. 
While in Monclova, General Wood detached Companies 
E. and K and organized them into a squadron commanded 
by Capt. Albert Pike. To this squadron fell the honor 
of bringing on the battle of Buena Vista, February 23, 
1847, the only action of consequence in which the Ar- 
kansas troops were engaged. Concerning the conduct of 
the Arkansas regiment on that occasion, and the death 
of Colonel Yell, a contemporary and competent au- 
thority afterwards wrote: "With the exception of Pike's 
and Preston's companies, the Arkansas regiment had 
not been thoroughly drilled. It showed a woeful lack 
of discipline, and at the battle the companies completely 
'lost their heads'. Colonel Yell, seeing the disordered 
state of the command, hastily gathered about him some 
thirty or forty of his bravest, dashed impetuously with 
them into the thickest of the light, and needlessly, nay, 
recklessly, threw away his life in an attempt to save the 
honor of his state and his own name. Never fell a 



Arkansas History 89 

braver son of an ungrateful state. After nearly fifty 
years, no testimonial, erected by the state, tells of his 
name and fame. The Americans were outnumbered at 
Buena Vista four to one, yet against these great odds 
they achieved one of the most signal victories of the war. 
That the Arkansas troops did their part to make the his- 
tory of that battle what it is the proof is ample. In the 
presence of a superior force, it is not surprising that raw, 
undisciplined troops should show signs of panic at the 
beginning of the engagement. But when the smoke of 
battle cleared away, the Mexicans were in full flight with 
the Americans in hot pursuit. Numerous stories of in- 
dividual bravery during the battle of Buena Vista have 
been told, one of which will bear repeating here. Joshua 
M. Danley, a youth of twenty years, was a private in 
Company B, commanded by his brother, Capt. Christo- 
pher C. Danley. Early in the battle a Mexican lancer 
charged young Danley and inflicted a slight wound in his 
arm. "Josh" grasped the lance near the head and in 
the struggle that followed both combatants were un- 
horsed. In the fall from the horse the Mexican released 
his hold upon the lance. Danley seized it and ran his 
enemy through the body with his own weapon. He 
brought the lance home with him as a trophy. 

Treaty of Guadalupe; Ambrose H. Sevier, one of the 
Peace Commissioners (1848). 

In the spring of 1847 President James K. Polk sent 
Nicholas P. Trist to Gen. Winfield Scott's headquarters 
for the purpose of entering into negotiations with the 
Mexican Government for the restoration of peace. He 
carried with him a treaty which had been prepared by 
the cabinet, though his secret instructions authorized 
him to make certain changes if it became necessary. 
One thing, however, he was to insist upon, and that was 
the cession of New Mexico and California, for which he 
was authorized to pay Mexico $25,000,000, unless he 
could obtain the cession on better terms. On August 24, 



90 High Lights 

1847, an annistice was arranged and the Mexican Gov- 
ernment appointed four commissioners to meet Mr. Trist. 
The Mexican commissioners refused to entertain Trist 's 
propositions and asked time to formulate other terms. 
Trist continued his negotiations, and on February 2, 

1848, succeeded in concluding the Treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo (a small place on the outskirts of the City of 
Mexico), which embodied essentially all the features de- 
sired by the President. The territory now comprising 
the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada 
and Utah, the western part of Colorado and the south- 
western part of Wyoming, was ceded to the United States 
for $15,000,000. The United States also agreed to 
assume the payment of claims held by her citizens against 
Mexico, provided the total amount of such claims did not 
exceed $3,250,000. The treaty was forwarded to Wash- 
ington, where, on account of certain misunderstandings 
between Polk and Trist, tlie sentiment was divided as to 
its acceptance. The treaty was, however, finally accepted 
and sent to the Senate, where it was promptly ratified. 
The Mexican Government, still hoping perhaps to secure 
better terms, delayed the ratification of the treaty. Polk 
then appointed Nathan Clifford and Senator Ambrose 
H. Sevier, of Arkansas, commissioners to consult with 
Mexican commissioners and secure the ratification of the 
treaty. Clifford and Sevier met the Mexican commis- 
sioners at Queretaro and succeeded in accomplishing 
their mission. By this treaty more than half a million 
square miles were added to the territory of the United 
States. And in the acquisition ot this terriory, Arkansas 
had played, in more ways than one, a conspicuous part. 

St. John's College Founded by , 

Masonic Fraternity (1848). 

In 1848, Elbert H. English, for many years grand 
master of the Arkansas Masonic Grand Lodge and af- 
terward chief justice of the Supreme Court, conceived 
the idea of a college to be conducted under the auspices 



Arkansas History 91 

of the Masonic fraternity. Through donations from the 
grand and subordinate lodges and friendly individuals, 
enough money was obtained to purchase a tract of 105 
acres of land in the suburbs of Little Rock. On Dec. 31, 
1850, the institution was incorporated under the name 
of St. John's College. The work of erecting a building 
was not commenced until 1857, which was ready for 
occupancy in the fall of 1859, A military academy was 
then opened mth John B. Thompson, of Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, president; J. F. Bronaugh, also a Virginian, vice 
president; and John B. Lewis, drill master. During 
the first year the attendance was good and the college 
started its career mth excellent prospects. Then the 
war came and its doors were closed. Thompson, 
Bronaugh and Lewis all entered the Confederate army 
and the cadets were organized into a company called the 
** Capital Guards", commanded by Gordon N. Peay. 
Thompson was killed at Shiloh, Bronaugh fell during the 
siege of Petersburg, and Lewis was the only one of the 
original instructors to survive the war. The buildings 
were used for hospital purposes, first by the Confederates 
and later by Federal troops. In 1868 or 1869 the college 
was reorganized with Oliver C. Gray as president. As- 
sociated with Gray were W. C. Parham and Theodore 
Jobe as instructors. When Gov. Elisha Baxter was 
ousted from the state house in the spring of 1874, he 
established his headquarters at St. John's College, the 
cadets acting as his bodyguard. The Brooks-Baxter war 
caused the institution to cease activity for a time. 
After the gubernatorial dispute was settled it reopened 
with Rev. A. R. Winfield as president. The establish- 
ment of public schools, the troubles encountered during 
the war, caused a decline in patronage and the grand 
lodge after a few years discontinued the school and 
ordered the sale of the property. With the proceeds of 
the sale the Masonic Temple on the corner of Fifth and 
Main streets was erected, where stands now the Ex- 



92 High Lights 

change National Bank Building. Where the college 
once stood is now one of the residence districts of the 
City of Little Rock. 

Arkansas Grand Lodge, Independent Order 
OF Odd Fellows Organized (1849). 

Following the organization of the first lodge of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Little Rock in 
1839 there were but three other lodges formed during 
the next ten years: Telula Lodge, No. 2, at Helena; 
Fro'ntier Lodge, No. 3, at Fort Smith; Independence 
Lodge, No. 4, at Batesville. And on June 11, 1849, rep- 
resentatives of these four lodges met in Little Rock, 
where they organized the Grand Lodge of Arkansas. 
The order had then, in Arkansas, a total membership of 
144. There are now nearly six hundred lodges in the 
state, with a membership of more than thirty thousand. 

The Washington Monument Begun ; a Block of 
Marble for the Monument Quahried 
IN Arkansas (1849). 

A popular movement to erect a suitable monument 
to the memory of George Washington was started in 
1833. The movement was organized under the name of 
the ''Washington National Monument Society", with 
headquarters at Washington City. The Arkansas 
Gazette of October 27, 1835, said: "The subscription to 
this object is limited to the sum of one dollar for each 
individual subscribing. It will be seen by the following 
notice that collectors of contributions are wanted for 
Arkansas and several other states and territories. We 
hope that Arkansans will not be backward in contributing 
their mite to this noble object: they owe as much to the 
memory of Washington as any other portion of the 
American people." Work was actually begun on the 
monument in 1848. The Arkansas State Democrat, in 
its issue of September 28, 1849, said: "We are advised 



Arkaktsas History 93 

that the citizens of the western portion of our State 
have succeeded in obtaining a block of marble, of the 
requisite size, from the Carroll county quarries, and that 
it has reached Van Buren, from which point it will be 
shipped, via New Orleans, to Washington City. Senator 
Borland has promised to procure the arms of our state 
engraved upon tliis block when it arrives at its desti- 
nation. Our citizens up the creek have shown a very 
laudable zeal in this matter for which they deserve the 
highest commendation. Whilst in some other states 
large appropriations have been made by the legisla- 
tures, for a similar purpose, the people of our western 
counties have made up a purse and sent off a block on 
their o^vn hook. This monument and the marble are 
samples of the public spirit and productions of the state, 
of which every citizen will be proud. We learn that it 
is the intention of the citizens of this county to send 
along with the marble a block from the granite quarries 
near this city. Those persons who may be disposed to 
aid in this object will find a subscription list at our office." 
Work on the monument was abandoned in 1857. In 
1877, with funds appropriated by Congress, the work 
was resumed. The monument was completed in 1884. 

The First Railroad Company in Arkansas 
Incorporated (1853). 

The Arkansas Central Railroad Company, incor- 
porated by act of the Ceneral Assembly, which act was 
approved January 10, 1853, was formed for the purpose 
of building a railroad from Memphis to Little Rock. Of 
the history of the project of a railroad from Memphis to 
Little Rock, The Arkansas Gazette of March 3, 1853, 
published the following account, copied from a Memphis 
paper of an early date: "From 1845, up to the present 
time, the idea of a great central trunk line railroad, 
commencing opposite this city and running westwardly 
through Arkansas to her western boundary, has been a 
prominent and favored one in the public mind. Gen. 



94 High Lights 

Edmund P. Gaines foreshadowed the project of the 
Pacific Railroad over that route, in his address to the 
convention which assembled here in that year, and 
was presided over by Mr. Calhoun. That convention, 
in which Arkansas was well represented, warmly favored 
the project. 

''Again, in the Pacific Railroad Convention which 
assembled here in October of 1849, and in which the 
State of Arkansas was most fully and ably represented 
by eighty- two of her most talented and distin,guished 
citizens, * * * the same route for a road was em- 
phatically endorsed. The resolution which passed the 
convention in reference to the location of the Pacific 
Railroad left the terminus on the Mississippi at "some 
point between the mouth of the Ohio and the mouth of 
Red River", but the Arkansas delegation in mass, to- 
gether with the delegations from Mississippi, South Caro- 
lina, Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia, voted unsuccess- 
fully for a substitute which designated the eastern ter- 
minus of this road ^^at Memphis, on the Mississippi 
River". This convention recommended the donation of 
lands by the general government, in aid of this great 
road, as well as of its prolongation to the Atlantic at 
Charleston. 

''Again, in 1852, two successive State conventions 
were held at Little Rock, in Arkansas, both of which 
recommended, distinctly and emphatically, this east and 
west central route, and asked for donations of land — the 
Legislature, also, granting a liberal charter. 

"In short, through a series of years, the project of 
a great central road from opposite this city, west- 
wardly through Arkansas, to her western frontier, has 
been a fixed and favorite idea, not only with the people 
of Arkansas, who have time and again endorsed and 
urged it, and in all sorts of ways have given their coun- 
tenance to it, as their first and most cherished project; 
hut ^v^th the people of a large majority of all the 



Arkansas History 95 

Southern States. It was as notoriously desirable by 
everj''body, and everywhere, as any project which has 
ever been discussed before the public. It was notori- 
ously the favorite and desirable project of Arkansas. 
As proof of this, we need only point to the charter 
granted by the last Legislature of that State and the 
inducements therein held out to capitalists. * * * " 

Covering the construction of the road, The True 
Democrat, of Little Rock, in its issue of Dec. 15, 1857, 
said: ''The road has already been partly completed 
and is entitled to the glorious eulogy of being the first 
to start the 'iron horse on the soil of Arkansas'. The 
road, which the editor referred to as completed, included, 
it seems, but a few miles of track from opposite Mem- 
phis to Hopefield. The road was completed to Madison, 
on St. Francis river, early in 1858. As stated in an- 
other topic, trains began running over that part of the 
road between DeVall's Bluff and Little Rock in Feb- 
ruary, 1862. On account of the war, the section between 
Madison and DeVall's Bluff was not completed until 
nearly ten years later. B}^ the act of July 31, 1868, the 
company was entitled to state aid, in the form of bonds 
at the rate of $10,000 per mile, or a total of $1,200,000. 
With this encouragement the gap was closed, the last 
spike being driven on April 11, 1871. The Arkansas 
Gazette, in giving an account of the event said: "We 
are now bound to the Bluff City — when the water gets 
out of the way." 

Public Lands Granted the Cairo and Fulton 
Railroad Company (1853). 

The President of the United States, Franklin 
Pierce, approved February 9, 1853, an act of Congress 
making a grant of land to the States of Missouri and 
Arkansas "to aid in the construction of a railroad from 
a point upon the Mississippi River opposite the mouth 
of the Ohio River, via Little Rock, to the Texas bound- 
ary, near Fulton, in Arkansas, with branches to Fort 



96 High Lights 

Smith and the Mississippi River". The company for 
whose benefit this grant was made had only been in- 
corporated on January 12, 1853, by the General As- 
sembly of Arkansas, as the Cairo and Fulton Railroad 
Company. Under the act of Congress, of February 9, 
the company received six sections (3,840 acres) per mile. 
The promoters of the enterprise soon discovered that 
it was much easier to build a railroad on paper than it 
was with the pick and shovel. Four years passed after 
the passage of the land grant act, the provisions of 
which required a certain amount of work to be done 
within a specified time, in which nothing was done in 
this matter of actual construction. The panic of 1857 
put a stop to public work all over the country and rail- 
road construction was for a time suspended. In De- 
cember, 1857, the president of the Cairo & Fulton called 
for the payment of an installment on stock subscriptions 
"sufficient to grade twenty-five miles, extending from the 
White River northward, to protect the land grant". 
With this work completed it was decided to wait until 
business conditions improved before continuing con- 
struction. In 1858 offices were established in Little 
Rock, with Mason Brayman as president; W. W. 
Everett, secretary; James S. Williams, chief engineer. 
The unsettled financial conditions of the country still 
prevented the effectual prosecution of the work. In- 
stead of improving, conditions grew worse until 1861, 
when the country became involved in civil war. Bray- 
man and Williams w^ere both graduates of West Point. 
The former returned North, entered the army and be- 
came a brigadier-general. Williams entered the Con- 
federate army as a colonel, but after the war Bra^Tnan 
returned to Little Rock to resume his place as presi- 
dent of the Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company. By an 
act of July 28, 1866, the land grant was revived and in- 
creased to ten sections per mile, making a total of 
1,945,600 acres. In March, 1868, the interests of the 
State of Missouri in the St. Louis & Iron Mountain 



Arkansas History 97 

Railroad were sold to Thomas Allen, who interested 
some Eastern capitalists and the line was finished to the 
Arkansas state line. A consolidation was then effected 
with the Cairo & Fulton company, under the name of 
the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, and work was 
commenced on the ''Arkansas Extension". Under an 
act of the General Assembly of Arkansas, approved 
July 31, 1868, state aid in the form of bonds to the 
amount of $3,000,000 was awarded to the Cairo & Fulton 
Railroad Company. Meanwhile, the land grant was 
growing steadily more valuable and the company had 
now sufficient working capital, so that the offer of State 
aid was declined. By the fall of 1872 the road was in op- 
eration as far south as Arkadelphia. In January, 1874, 
trains began running between St. Louis and Texarkana. 
This road now forms part of the Missouri Pacific system. 

The First Geological Survey of x^lrkansas (1857). 

The first geological survey of Arkansas was made 
by Dr. David Dale^Owen in 1857-58. A report of this 
survey, or ''reconnaissance" as it was called, was pub- 
lished' at Little Rock in 1858. In February, 1859, the 
General Assembly made an appropriation to continue 
the work. Doctor Owen was reappointed, but died on 
November 3, 1860. His second report, edited by his 
brother, Richard Owen, and his assistant, Edward T. 
Cox, was published at Philadelphia about a year after 
his death. 

The First Cottox Factory Established (1857). 

A factory for the production of cotton and woolen 
goods was established in 1857 at Royston, Pike county, 
by the Arkansas Manufacturing Company. The prin- 
cipal promoters of the enterprise were Henry Merrill, 
a Georgian, and John Matlock, of Camden, Arkansas. 
It turned out yarn and thread until 1863, when it was 
removed to Texas by order of the Confederate Govern- 
ment. After the war the plant was brought back to 



98 High Lights 

Royston. After Mr. Matlock's death the machinery 
was purchased by the Arkadelphia Manufacturing 
Company and taken to that city, where a factory was 
opened on a larger scale. W. W. Bell, the first super- 
intendent of the Royston mills, also established woolen 
mills at Camden and Nashville. None of these factories 
is now in existence. 

The State School for the Blind Founded (1859). 

Next to the penitentiary, established in 1838, the 
School for the Blind is the oldest of the State's insti- 
tutions. The first effort made to provide for the education 
of the blind in Arkansas was in 1850, when Rev. James 
Champlain, a blind Methodist minister, opened such a 
school at Clarksville in Johnson county. His pupils 
numbered only five, and failing to receive the support 
and encouragement he anticipated, the school was closed 
after about five months. In 1858, a Mr. Haucke, a blind 
Baptist preacher, visited Arkadelphia, where he inter- 
ested a number of the charitably inclined citizens of the 
community in a movement to establish a school for the 
blind. In October of that year an association was 
formed for the purpose, and the name of "The Arkansas 
Institute for the Education of the Blind" was adopted. 
The school was opened in February, 1859, with Mr. 
Haucke in charge and seven pupils in attendance. On 
February 4, 1859, the institution was incorporated and 
Governor Elias N. Conway appointed the following 
board of trustees: T. E. Garrett, Harris Flanagin, T. A. 
Heard, J. B. McDaniel, J. W. Smith, H. B. Stewart, S. 
Stephenson, W. A. Trigg and J. L. Witherspoon. Mr. 
Haucke resigned his position in tlio summer of 1859 and 
Otis Patten was selected as his successor. Mr. Patten 
and Isaac Lawrence spent some thime in traveling over 
the state, trying to induce the parents of blind children 
to send them to school. Through their efforts the at- 
tendance increased and the institution prospered until 
the fall of 1863, when, owing to conditions growing out 



Arkansas History 99 

of the Civil War, it was closed. The General Assembly 
of 1866-67 appropriated $8,000 for buildings, $1,200 for 
salary of a superintendent, and $200 a year for the 
support of each pupil. With this encouragement, the 
school was reopened in March, 1867. On July 22, 1868, 
Governor Powell Clayton approved an act for the re- 
moval of the school to Little Rock. It was closed at 
Arkadelphia about the middle of September and opened 
at Little Rock in the second week of October, in "Rose 
Cottage", with Liberty Bartlett, R. L. Dodge, and C. 
C. Farrelly as trustees. A tract of about eight acres, 
in the southern part of the city, was purchased, a brick 
building and several temporary frame buildings were 
erected, and the institution was removed to its present 
location in 1869. By an act of March 15, 1879, the name 
was changed to the ''Arkansas School for the Blind". 
In 1885 the Legislature appropriated $60,000 for addi- 
tional buildings. The first brick structure was then 
converted into a workshop, where the boys were taught 
broom and brush making, mattress making, chair caning, 
etc. The girls were taught sewing, both by hand and 
machine, bead work and some other occupations. 

The Streets of Little Rock Lighted 
First by Gas (1860). 

A franchise was granted by the City of Little Rock, 
April 5, 1860, to the ''Little Rock Ga« Company". 
The "True Democrat", in its issue of May 5, 1860, con- 
tained the following announcement: "The gas house is 
now nearly completed. The contractors, the Messrs. 
Slaughter, have more than complied with all the stip- 
ulations of their contract. We understand that the 
street pipes and other gas fixtures are now here. We 
may confidently look for the works to be in full blast by 
the first of August, at which time our streets are to be 
lighted. We think the contractors entitled to much 
credit for the prompt, efficient and very satisfactory 
manner in which they have complied with their con- 



100 HioH Lights 

tract." The gas works then, where the artificial gas 
was manufactured, were situated at the foot of Cum- 
berland street. In those days, when the streets of Little 
Rock first began to be lighted by gas, Richard Wilson 
and Benjamin Pate — commonly called Dick and Ben — 
were the city lamplighters. As they went their rounds 
in the evening, it is said that each carried a small ladder 
and a lantern, both which they used in lighting the 
street lights. In the morning they made their rounds 
without the lantern and turned oflP the gas. They were 
often accompanied by a crowd of small boys, who in- 
sisted upon lightening their labors by carrying the lan- 
tern and ladder. 

The First Telegraph Line in Arkansas (1860). 

The True Democrat, of Little Rock, in its issue 
of March 21, 1860, said: ''The operations of the electric 
telegraph are the wonder and admiration of the world. 
* * * At the South and Southwest, there are several 
lines in every State, except Arkansas, and companies for 
new lines constantly organizing * * * In our city, 
the subject of a line has been the topic of discourse for the 
last three years and now is a favorable opportunity to 
act in the matter. Mr. W. D. Snow, of the firm of 
Snow, Ketchum & Co., is on a visit among us. They 
have long been engaged in the business, and constructed 
several thousand miles. They are well indorsed by let- 
ters to several of our citizens, and will join them in tak- 
ing the necessary stock for a line to Memphis, and lease 
the line for a term of years if desired, and establish 
branches at once to the thriving localities of the State." 
The editor of the same paper, quoting Mr. Snow, said, 
March 24, 1860: *'In the short space of sixteen years, the 
invention, in connection with the House & Bain instru- 
ments, has spread until now there is in o"Deration on this 
continent between 70,000 and 80,000 miles, or nearly 
240 per cent more than there are miles of railroad, the 
aggregate receipts of which, already, in 1858, exceeded 



Arkansas History 101 

the entire revenue of the post ojffice department, on a 
total number of messages bearing a proportion of 15 
per cent to all the letters despatched through the mails." 
Just one week later the editor printed the following an- 
nouncement: ''As soon as the stock of the telegraph 
line from our city to Memphis is subscribed, we learn 
that Mr. Snow will visit all the thriving localities of 
the State and enlist interest in branch lines centering 
at Little Rock. Of the routes named, a line to Bates- 
ville, to Helena, to Pine Bluff and Napoleon, to Cam- 
den, to Clarksville, and Paris, Texas, and thence to 
Galveston. In addition to Fort Smith and Van Buren 
having taken stock and secured offices in the Missouri 
line, we learn from a gentleman from Fayetteville, 
Washington county, that the citizens of the latter place 
have promptly taken the necessary stock for an office in 
that place, on the Missouri line. In the month of June 
these three localities will be in lightning communication 
with ''the rest of mankind". 

How Arkansas Seceded from the Union (1861) 

Governor Henry M. Rector approved, January 15, 
1861, an act of the General Assembly which provided 
"That the governor shall issue his proclamation, or- 
dering an election in all the counties of this state, sub- 
mitting to the people the question of 'Convention' or 
'No Convention', to be held on the 18th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1861, * * * " The act further provided that, in 
the event the people voted a convention, upon its or- 
ganization the said convention "shall take into consider- 
ation the condition of political affairs, and determine 
what course the State of Arkansas shall take in the 
present political crisis." Accordingly, Governor Rec- 
tor, on January 16, ordered the election held as di- 
rected by the act which he had approved the day before. 
In the first days of February, it was rumored in Little 
Rock that the steamboat "S. H. Tucker" was coming 
up the Arkansas with three or four hundred regular 



102 High Lights 

troops of the United States on board, in order to rein- 
force the troop of artillery stationed at the arsenal, 
under the command of Captain James Totten. Hun- 
dreds of citizens armed themselves and hurried to Little 
Rock for the avowed purpose of taking forcible pos- 
session of the post. At the request of the city council, 
and a public meeting of citizens, Governor Rector was 
induced to demand the surrender of the arsenal and its 
supplies. Captain Totten and his men evacuated the 
post with the honors of war on February 8, 1861. 
These events, doubtless, had a decided effect upon the 
election of February 18, in which the proposition for a 
convention carried by a majority of 11,586 votes. The 
convention met on Monday, March 4, and continued in 
session until March 21. Though several ordinances of 
secession were proposed, all were defeated, and the con- 
vention adjourned to meet again on August 19, after 
the people had voted, August 5, on the question of se- 
cession. However, the president of the convention was 
authorized to call the delegates together '*at any time 
between this and the 19th day of August, A. D., 1861, 
if in his opinion an exigency should arise". The fall of 
Fort Sumter, April 14, 1861; the call of President 
Lincoln for volunteers to suppress secession; an order 
for the dispatch of a thousand reaiilars of the United 
States army to Fort Smith, afforded the ''exigency" 
which prompted David Walker, of Fayetteville, presi- 
dent of the convention, to assemble the delegates in a 
second session on May 6, 1861. And on the afternoon of 
the first day of this extraordinary session (May 6) an 
ordinance of secession was passed by a vote of sixty- 
fi:ve to five. As soon as the president announced the 
vote, four of those who had voted in the ne^rative chan<?ed 
their votes to the affirmative, leaving Tsnac INlur-nhv, af- 
terwards governor, the only dele^ra^-e who went on rer^ord 
as opposed to secession. On May 10, the convention 
passed an ordinance adopting the provisional consti- 
tution of the Confederate States, as framed and adopted 
at Montgomery, Alabama, February 4, 1861. 



Arkansas History 103 

Arkansas Admitted to the Union of the 
Confederacy (1861). 

The Arkansas secession convention elected, May 10, 
1861, Augustus H. Garland, Robert W. Johnson, Hugh 
F. Thomason, Albert Rust and W. W. Watkins dele- 
gates to represent the State of Arkansas in the Con- 
federate Congress. These delegates were formally 
seated as members of the Congress at Montgomery on 
May 18. 1861. 

Battle of Oak Hill — First Arkansas Soldiers of 

the War of Secession Engaged in Battle (1861). 

The battle of Oak Hill, called by the Union forces 
the battle of Wilson's Creek, was fought in southwestern 
Missouri, near Springfield, August 10, 1861. There sol- 
diers enlisted from Arkansas for the War of Secession 
were engaged for the first time in battle. The Con- 
federates, of which there were some six thousand, were 
commanded by General Benjamin McCulloch. They 
were attacked by a Federal force of eight or, as some 
say, ten thousand men led by General Nathaniel Lyon. 
The Arkansas troops included the regiments commanded 
by Colonels Thomas J. Churchill, De Rosey Carroll, 
Thomas P. Dockery, James Mcintosh, and William E. 
Woodruff's battery — the whole forming a brigade, of 
which General N. B. Pearce had command. It was Gen- 
eral Lyon's intention to surprise the Confederate camp, 
but the approach of the Federals was discovered by 
Capt. Lee M. Ramsaur, of Churchill's regiment, in time 
to give the alarm. Before the Confederates were fairly 
in battle formation they were thrown into some con^ 
fusion, but General Lyon failed to press his advantage, 
giving them time to rally. The battle began about seven 
o'clock in the morning and lasted until one o'clock in 
the afternoon, when the Federals retired from the field. 
In this action the Arkansans lost 91 killed, 317 wounded 



104 High Lights 

and 4 missing, supposed to have been captured. The 
Federal loss was heavy, General Lvon being among the 
killed. 

Battle of Elkhorn, oe Pea Eidge — First Engage- 
ment OF THE War of Secession Fought on 
Arkansas Soil (1862). 

The battle of Elkhorn, or Pea Ridge, was fought 
March 6, 1862. It was the first engagement of the war 
fought in the State of Arkansas. The Confederates 
commanded by Generals Stirling Price and Benjamin 
McCulloch attacked General Franz Sigel at Benton ville 
and forced him to fall back to the main body of Federals 
on Pea Ridge, under the command of General Samuel R. 
Curtis. Pea Ridge is a plateau about ten miles long by 
five miles wide in the northern part of Benton County. 
Curtis' force numbered 20,000 men, while the Confed- 
erates, commanded by General Earl Van Dorn, numbered 
only 15,000. Notwithstanding the odds against him. 
Van Dorn attacked the Federal position on the 7th of 
March, and after an engagement which lasted several 
hours, forced Curtis to give way. During the night 
Curtis moved to a stronger position and on the 8th of 
March Van Dorn retreated southward, instead of hold- 
ing the field and awaiting a Federal attack. Some 
skirmishing occurred between his rear guard and the 
Federals. The Confederate loss at Pea Ridge was 
given at 185 killed, 525 wounded and 300 missing. 
Curtis' loss was reported as 402 killed, 800 wounded and 
300 captured. Generals Mcintosh and McCulloch of 
the Confederates were both killed in this battle, a battle 
without permanent advantage to either side. 

The Arkansas State Troops Transferred to the 
Confederate Service (1862). 

The Arkansas secession convention, in May, 1861, 
created a military board with power to arm and equip 
such troops as might be deemed necessary for the de- 



Arkansas History 105 

fense of the state against invasion. This board was 
composed of Governor Henry M. Rector, Christopher C. 
Danley, of Little Rock, and Benjamin C. Totten, of 
Prairie County. Mr. Danley soon afterward was suc- 
ceeded by Samuel W. Williams, and when the latter 
entered the army he was succeeded by L. D. Hill, of 
Perry county. This board issued a call for 10,000 vol- 
unteers and in a little while companies began to report 
from all parts of the state. N. B. Pearce, formerly an 
officer in the United States army, and James Yell were 
appointed brigadier-generals by the convention to or- 
ganize the men into regiments and brigades. The First 
regiment of state troops was; commanded by Col. 
Patrick R. Cleburne; the Second, by Col. James Mc- 
intosh; the Third, by Col. John R. Gratiot; the Fourth, 
by Col. J. D. Walker; the Fifth, by Col. Thomas P. 
Dockery. There were also a ''Southwest Arkansas 
Regiment", commanded by Col. Evander McNair, and a 
cavalry regiment (the Third), commanded by Col. De 
Rosey Carroll. These troops rendezvoused at Poca- 
hontas, Randolph county, Gratiot's and Walker's regi- 
ments were disbanded after the battle of Oak Hill. 
Early in September, 1861, Gen. Wm. J. Hardee, of 
Georgia, came to Arkansas as the representative of the 
Confederate Government, to arrange for the transfer 
of all Arkansas troops to the Confederate service. 
Every man was permitted to decide the question for 
himself and those that objected to being transferred 
were mustered out of service. This resulted in the 
disbanding of Dockery 's and Carroll's regiments, many 
of the men enlisting in other commands. The transfer 
was formally effected June 2, 1862, by the proclamation 
of Governor Rector. 

The First Railroad Trains to and out of 
Little Rock (1862). 

The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad Company 
announced, February 20, 1862, that on and from that 



106 High Lights 

day the company would run a train daily, both ways, be- 
tween Little Rock and DeVall's Bluff. The announce- 
ment, which appeared in the True Democrat of Feb- 
ruary 20, said also: "Hanger, Rapley & Gaines are 
running the new sidewheel steamer 'Charm' between 
DeVall's Bluff and Clarendon, in connection with their 
double daily line of stages from Clarendon to Madison, 
making the trip comfortable and pleasant and twenty- 
four hours shorter than by any other route. A regular 
line of packets from Memphis connects with the road at 
DeVall's Bluff, offering excellent facilities for the 
shipment of freights at all seasons and without the risk 
and delay attending the navigation of the Arkansas 
River. Cars leave Little Rock every day at 8 o'clock 
A. M. and (passengers from Little Rock) arrive at 
Memphis next day at 4 o'clock P. M. Returning, leave 
Memphis at 7:30 o'clock A. M,, arrive at Little Rock at 
4:30 P. M. Tickets can be procured of J. L. Palmer, 
Anthony House, Little Rock, and at the ticket office of 
the Memphis & Charleston Railroad at Memphis." 

The State Capitol Removed to Hot Springs (1862). 

In the spring of 1862 the Federal army commanded 
by Gen. Samuel R. Curtis invaded Northern Arkansas 
and marched toward Little Rock. Without waiting for 
authority from the Legislature, Gov. Henry M. Rector, 
on May 6, 1862, wrote to Edmund Burgevin, adjutant- 
general of the State, as follows: **Sir: In my absence 
from the capital, you are authorized and empowered to 
raise volunteers, swear them into service as provided in 
my proclamation of the 5th inst., and to operate against 
the approaching Federal army to the best advantage, so 
as to impede their progress towards the capital and 
south of it, if they should continue their march onward 
after reaching this point. You are authorized to call 
upon Col. S. Faulkner, C. S. military storekeeper, for 
any ammunition on hand belonging to the Confederate 
Government, and charge the same to the State of Ar- 



Arkansas History 107 

kansae. You are further authorized to call upon the 
State quartermaster at this place for subsistence, trans- 
portation, etc., necessary for such men as you may swear 
into service as provided by said proclamation." Imme- 
diately after giving these instructions to the adjutant 
general, the governor, secretary of state and state treas- 
urer packed up the most important state records, funds, 
etc., and went to Hot Springs, where temporary quarters 
were established. Many people deemed this action on 
the part of the governor unnecessary. The "True Dem- 
ocrat" in its isue of May 22, 1862, said: "We would be 
glad if some patriotic gentleman would relieve the anxi- 
ety of the public by informing it of the locality of the 
state government. The last that was heard of it here, i^ 
was aboard of the steamer 'Little Rock' about two weeks 
ago, stemming the current of the Arkansas River." The 
same paper in its issue of July 3, 1862, said: "Under 
the title 'Where is the Seat of Government?' a writer in 
the 'Gazette' of last week shows that the seat of gov- 
ernment is at Little Rock. Indeed, in the absence of any 
official notification of removal or change of location it 
cannot be otherwise. If part of the state government is 
rusticating, we suppose there is some reason for it, but 
it is decidedly inconvenient to those who have business 
to transact with the state." Toward the latter part of 
July the scare was over and Governor Rector returned 
to Little Rock. On November 29, 1862, Governor Flana- 
gin approved an act providing : ' ' That the sum of sixty- 
eight dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated, out 
of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, 
to pay John I. Stirman, late secretary of state, for mon- 
eys expended in consequence of the removal of the seat 
of government from Little Rock to Hot Springs during 
the summer of 1862. 

The Battle of Pbaibie Grove (1862). 

Prairie Grove, from which the battle there on De- 
cember 7, 1862, took its name, is situated in Washing- 



108 High Lights 

ton County, some ten miles south of Fayetteville. The 
battle of Prairie Grove was fought by Union troops un- 
der the command of Generals James G. Blunt and Fran- 
cis J. Herron and an army of Confederates commanded 
by Generals Thomas C. Hindman and James F. Fagan. 
The battle was begun by General Hindman, who made 
an attack just before noon on the position of General 
Herron. The fighting continued throughout the after- 
noon. General Fagan 's brigade of four regiments, who 
held the right of the Confederate line, gallantly repelled 
several vigorous charges of the Federals. General Her- 
ron was reinforced, about an hour before sunset, by 
General Blunt, which brought the strength of the Fed- 
erals up to 16,000 men. Charles W. Walker, in describ- 
ing the battle, says: ** During the night of the 7th both 
armies were retreating. The Federals began moving 
their trains to Fayetteville early in the night. The Con- 
federates began their retreat about midnight. The vic- 
tory of the Confederates, though complete, were fruitless, 
barren of good results to the South. • * * Accord- 
ing to General Hindman 's report, "our loss in killed was 
164, wounded 817, missing 336; Federal loss, 400 dead 
on the field, 1,500 wounded, number of prisoners in our 
hands 275, including 9 officers." Blunt and Herron re- 
ported a loss of 175 killed, 813 wounded and 263 missing. 
The Confederates also captured 500 stand of small arms, 
23 wagons laden with supplies, and five flags. Hindman 
explained his retreat on the grounds that his ''supply 
of ammunition was reduced far below what would be 
necessary for another day's fighting, and that my bat- 
tery animals were literally dying of starvation". 

The Capture of Arkansas Post (1863). 

Arkansas Post, in January, 1863, was defended by a 
force of 3,000 Confederates commanded by Gen. Thomas 
J. Churchill. On the morning of January 8th, his pick- 
ets reported a fleet of gunboats and transports coming 
up the Arkansas River. The next day some 20,000 Fed- 



Arkansas History 109 

eral troops, commanded by Gen. John A. MoClernand, 
were landed and preparations were commenced for at- 
tacking the post. Churchill placed the works in condi- 
tion to receive an assault, which came in the aftrenoon of 
January 9, and which was repulsed. Later, on the same 
day, the gunboats, commanded by Admiral David D. 
Porter, opened fire and succeeded in inflicting some dam- 
age upon the defenses. About noon on January 10, a 
general assault was made, but the Federals were again 
repulsed with heavy losses. On the 11th of January, 
1863, General Churchill surrendered the post. He was 
taken a prisoner to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was 
held three months as a prisoner of war. When exchanged 
he was assigned to the Trans-Mississippi Department. 
The minor officers and privates, who had surrendered at 
Arkansas Post, were afterwards paroled. 

Battle op Helena (1863). 

A Confederate force of 7,640 men, commanded by 
General Theophilas H. Holmes, made an attack upon 
General Samuel R. Curtis, in command of the Federal 
garrison at Helena, on July 4, 1863. The first attack 
was made at an early hour in the morning, and the fight- 
ing continued until noon. In their first assault, the Con- 
federates captured some of the outer works of the Fed- 
eral fortifications; which Federals, rallied presently by 
General Curtis, recaptured and reinforced. The attack 
on Helena by General Holmes was declared by critics 
to have been an error, since the place was strongly for- 
tified and garrisoned by a force superior in numbers to 
the attacking army. The Confederates lost 152 killed, 
291 wounded and 406 missing. From Helena General 
Holmes retired to Searcy, where he remained in camp a 
short time, when he returned to Little Rock; whence he 
had set out originally for the purpose of attacking 
Helena. 



110 High Lights 

The Last Duel Fought in Arkansas (1863). 

On August 27, 1863, while the Confederate army 
was falling back toward Little Rock, an engagement 
took place at Reed's Bridge over the Bayou Meto. Gen. 
L. M. Walker was in command of the Confederate forces 
thus engaged, with Gen. John S. Marmaduke in com- 
mand of a division under him. After the battle, Marma- 
duke criticized Walker for his management of the troops. 
When Walker heard of this he demanded an apology, 
which was not forthcoming, and he then challenged Mar- 
maduke to a duel. They met the next day a few miles 
from Little Rock and fought with pistols. Walker was 
severely wounded and was taken to Little Rock, where he 
died the next day. This was the last duel in Arkansas. 

Capture of Little Rock (1863). 

The fall of Little Rock into the hands of the Fed- 
erals occurred on September 10, 1863. General Freder- 
ick Steele marched out of Helena August 8, under or- 
ders from General Samuel R. Curtis, ^vith an army for 
the purpose of effecting its capture. The principal skir- 
mishes incident to this movement on the part of the 
Federals were as follows : West Point, August 14th ; 
Harrison's Landing, August 16th: Grand Prairie, Au- 
gust 17th; Brownsville, August 25th: Reed's Bridcre, 
August 27th; Shallow Ford, August 30th; Ashley's Mills. 
September 7th. The Confederates made their last stand 
on September 10, at Fourche Bayou, four miles from 
Little Rock. A line of battle had been formed there to 
receive the invaders, and when they approached a bril- 
liant dash by the Confederates checked the Federal ad- 
vance and captured four pieces of artillery. About nine 
miles below the city, Steele had ordered Gen. J. W. Da- 
vidson to cross the river and attack the works of the 
Confederates there in the rear with his cavalry division, 
while the main body of the Federal army moved up the 
north bank. While exulting over their temporary vic- 
tory in the capture of the artillery, the Confederates 



Arkansas History 111 

learned of the attack by Davidson on the south side of 
the river. Whereupon, they abandoned their position on 
Fourche Bayou and crossed the river to repel the attack 
of General Davidson. When General Steele reached the 
Confederate trenches he found them deserted and hur- 
ried forward to the bank of the river opposite the city. 
There batteries were planted and a few shots fired, when 
it was learned that General Stirling Price, who had suc- 
ceeded General Theophilas H. Holmes in command of the 
Confederates, had ordered a retreat. The last of the 
Confederates left the city about 5 p. m. on September 10, 
1863, and from that time until 2 a. m. of September 11, 
Steele's victorious army was moving in. The occupa- 
tion of Little Rock placed all that part of the state north 
of the Arkansas River in the hands of the Federals. 

The State Capitol Removed to Washington, Hempstead 
County (1863). 

A resolution adopted by the Legislature and ap- 
proved by Governor Harris Flanagin November 27, 
1862, provided: '^That the governor be and he is hereby 
invested with authority to move the seat of government, 
and all property of a moveable character belonging 
thereto, to a place of safety, not beyond the limits of the 
state, when, in his judgment, it shall be deemed expe- 
dient." At the same time the judges of the Supremo 
Court and the Court of Chancery were directed to re- 
move **the library and all books and papers belonging 
to said courts to the said temporary seat of govern- 
ment; and by giving notice in two or more of the nublir 
newspapers of the slate, of the time and place of said 
removal, proceed to hold said courts, as is otherwise 
provided by law: Provided, that it shall be the duty of 
the governor to return the seat of government and prop- 
erty, and of the iudf>'es to return the library, books and 
papers to Little Rock, when the cause of removal ceases 
to exist." Early iu September, 1863, when it became ap- 
parent that Genernl Frederick Steele's intention was to 



112 High Lights 

occupy Little Rock with his army, Governor Flanagin, 
under the authority conferred upon him by the said res- 
olution, issued his proclamation directing the removal 
of the seat of government to Washington, Hempstead 
County. A session of the Legislature was convened there 
in September, 1864, and Washington continued to be 
Governor Flanagin 's capital until the spring of 1865, 
when his administration was brought to an end by the 
fortunes of war. Since that time the seat of govern- 
ment has remained at Little Rock without interruption. 

David 0. Dodd Executed as a Spy (1864). 

While General Frederick Steele's army lav at Little 
Rock, in the fall of 1863, David 0. Dodd, a youth of sev- 
enteen years, spent some time in the city, employed in a 
sutler's store. Early in December, 1863, Dodd's father 
appeared in Little Rock and took his family, consisting 
of his wife, two daughters and David to Camden. The 
elder Dodd left some business matters unsettled and Da- 
vid returned to Little Rock to look after them. General 
James F. Fagan, of the Confederate army, then near 
Oamden, gave the boy a pass. He readied the city in 
safety and remained there until after Christmas, when 
he set out intending to return to Camden. He was cap- 
tured at a point some eight or ten miles southwest of the 
city, on the Hot Springs road ; whence he was taken hack 
to the city and accused of being a spy. LTnfortunately, he 
had in his possession a memorandum book, or diary, 
which contained entries written in the telegraphic dots 
and dashes of the Morse code. Some of these entries re- 
ferred to the strength of the Federal forces ; though no 
evidence was produced to show that it was the boy's in- 
tention to turn the information over to the enemy, he 
was tried by court-martial and hanged on January 8, 
1864, by order of General Steele. 

The Constitution of 1836 Re-established (1864). 

Not long after the occupation, on September 10, 1863. 
of Little Rock by General Frederick Steele, a movement 



Arkansas History 113 

was started for the formation of a state government that 
would be in harmony with the national Federal adminis- 
tration. On October 24, 1863, about a dozen citizens of 
Crawford and Sebastian counties met at Fort Smith and 
adopted resolutions favoring the establishment of a loyal 
state government under a new constitution. Six days 
later a public meeting was held in Little Rock for a sim- 
ilar purpose. Dr. John Kirkwood presided and Dr. E. 
D. Ayres w^as secretary. A committee, consisting of 
Isaac Murphy, William M. Fishback, E. W. Growl, E. 
P. Filkins, and C. V. Meadors, was appointed to draft a 
communication to President Lincoln, assuring him of 
the loyalty of the people of the State, and asking the co- 
operation of the National Government to restore Arkan- 
sas to its original status as a member of the Union. 
About the same time conventions were held at Fort 
Smith and Van Buren and adopted resolutions calling 
upon the people of the several counties to elect delegates 
to a constitutional convention, to meet in Little Rock on 
the first Monday in January, 1864. The resolutions de- 
clared that ''The purpose of such convention shall be to 
re-establish civil government and to restore normal re- 
lations with the Central Government". Acting upon the 
recommendations of these public meetings, twenty-four 
counties elected delegates to the proposed constitutional 
convention. The counties represented in the convention 
were as follows: Clark, Columbia, Conway, Crawford, 
Dallas, Drew, Hot Spring, Independence, Jackson, Jef- 
ferson, Madison, Montgomery, Newton, Ouachita, Pbil- 
Hps, Pike, Polk, Pope, Pulaski, St. Francis, Saline, Se- 
bastian, Sevier, and Yell. The delegates met at Little 
Rock on January 4, 1864, and the convention was or- 
ganized by the election of John McCoy, president, and 
Robert J.'t. White, secretary. Lieut-Colonel Chandler 
administered the oath of allegiance to the members. A 
committee of twelve was appointed to draft a consti- 
tution. On January 13, the committee reported the old 
constitution of 1836, with certain changes "made neces- 



114 High Lights 

sary by the spirit of tlie times." Provision was made 
for submitting the constitution to a vote of the people at 
an election to be held on the 14th, 15th and 16th of Marsh, 
when state officers and members of the General Assembly 
were to be elected, to take office in the event the consti- 
tution was ratified. The convention adjourned sine die 
on January- 23, 1864, ha\dng been in session only eighteen 
days. At the election the constitution was approved by 
a vote of 12,177 to 266. 

Battle of Poison Spring (1864). 

General Frederick Steele set out from Little Rock 
in March, 1864, on what is known a« the Camden Expe- 
dition. He had planned and undertook the expedition for 
the purpose of driving the Confederates out of the State. 
On April 15, his advance reached Camden, where the 
Confederate army of General Sterling Price had win- 
tered. The town was occupied after but slight resistance. 
Three days later a spirited engagement was fought 
twelve miles northwest of Camden, between the Confed- 
erates, commanded by Generals William Ij. Cabell, J. S. 
Marmaduke, S. B. Maxey and Thayer's division of the 
Federal Army. The result was a victory for the Confed- 
erates, who captured 220 wagons and 150 prisoners. This 
action was called by the Confederates the battle of Poison 
Spring, and by the Federals the battle of Prairie d'Ane. 

Battle of Marks' Mill (1864). 

The battle of Marks' Mill was fought April 25, 1864. 
General Powell Clayton, in commiand at Pine Bluff, had 
started a supply train in support of General Frederick 
Steele's Camden Expedition. At Marks' Mill, about two 
miles north of the present town of New Edinburgh, 
Cleveland county, while the Federals were encamped, 
they were attacked by General James F. Fagan's divi- 
sion. The escort of the supply train, consisting of 1,600 
infantry and 400 cavalrv\ were not ready for the attack 
and after a short fight surrendered. Three hundred of 



Arkansas History 115 

the cavalry- made their escape but the rest were made 
prisoners and the entire train of 240 wagons was cap- 
tared. Steele reported that the attacking force was com- 
posed of the forces of Fagan and Shelby and numbered 
5,000 men. 

Battle of Jenkins' Ferry (1864). 

The defeat of the Federals at Marks' Mill, where 
General Powell Clayton lost the supply train intended for 
the support of General Frederick Steele's Camden Ex- 
pedition, left Steele in the heart of the enemy's country 
without sufficient ammunition and provisions to carry on 
an aggressive campaign, and he started on his retreat to 
Little Rock. At Jenkins' Ferry on the Saline River, 
about ten miles southwest of the present town of Sheri- 
dan, he was attacked on the morning of April 30, 1864, 
by General Sterling Price, Avho had received reinforce- 
ments from General Kirby Smith. By skillful maneuver- 
ing, Steele succeeded in getting his army across Saline 
River on pontoons, though he had finally to burn his 
wagons and supplies to prevent them from falling into 
the hands of the Confederates. The fight lasted about 
four hours and a half and both sides suffered severe 
lasses. The Confederates did not pursue beyond the 
Saline and Steele arrived at Little Rock after a tedious 
march. 

Price's Raid (1864). 

Early in September, 1864, General Sterling Price, 
with General James F. Fagan second in command, broke' 
camp in Southwest Arkansas and started on a raid 
through the northern part of the State and into Missouri. 
He met with resistance at various points, the most stub- 
born being Pilot Knob, Missouri, September 27th. The 
place was strongly fortified, but after one day's fight- 
ing the Federals blew up their ammunition and retreated 
during the night. It was thought that Price's objective 
point was St. Louis, but before reaching that city he 



116 High Lights 

turned westward. Sharp skirmishing occurred almost 
daily, with considerable engagements at Independence, 
Booneville and Westport. At Marias des Cygnes (marsh 
of the swans), Kansas, Price found himself confronted 
by a strong force and suffered a reverse. Over three 
hundred of his men were captured, including a number 
of general and field officers. This broke the backbone 
of the raid and Price started to retrace his steps. Late in 
October he reached his former quarters in the southern 
part of Arkansas. This movement practically ended the 
war in Arkansas. 

The Sueeender of the Confederate State Government 
(1865). 

The last significant official act of Governor Harris 
Flanagin, as chief executive of the Confederate govern- 
ment of Arkansas, was, it seems, the proclamiation of an 
appeal "To the People of the State of Arkansas", dated 
May 23, 1865, at Washington, Arkansas. In order to 
prevent the spread of lawlessness and anarchy, he urged 
that "the people of every neighborhood form themselves 
into police guards, whose duty it shall be to protect the 
peace and quiet of the country." A "Law and Order" 
meeting of citizens met on June 15 in the court house — 
where Governor Flanagin had maintained the office of 
chief executive at Washington — and adopted the follow- 
ing resolutions of good-will and submission to the Union 
government, as headed by Governor Isaac Murphy at Lit- 
tle Rock : 

"Whereas, By the dissolution of its civil govern- 
ment and the surrender of its armies, 'The Confederate 
States of America' has become extinct, and its citizens 
absolved from all further duties of 'allegiance, and 

"Whereas, Every friend of humanity must be 
equally opposed to a state of anarchy; and of hopeless 
civil war with all of its horrors; we therefore resolve, 



Arkansas History 117 

"1. That we returD to aud renew in good faith, and 
with the sincere intention to keep the same, our allegiance 
to the 'United States of America;' and that so many as 
may be able conscientiously to do so are advised to take 
the oath of amnesty lately proclaimed by President 
Johnson. 

"2. That we can give full assurance to said Gov- 
ernment of the United States that hostility to its au- 
thority has entirely ceased in our county, land there exists 
no lawlessness amongst us, which does not arise from a 
mere love of plunder, and which every good citizen is 
desirous of having suppressed in the speediest legal and 
constitutional manner, or otherwise if necessary. 

**3. That we tender to the proper authorities, civil 
and military, of the United States our hearty co-opera- 
tion for this purpose, and will receive them in amity 
and good will. 

"And whereas. His excellency, Isaac Murphy, has 
recommended to the citizens of each county to make nom- 
inations of civil officers to be appointed in their respective 
counties, and whereas, the present county officers were 
elected by and have the confidence of the people, and we 
believe are willing to take and faithfully observe the 
oath of allegiance to the Constitution, laws and proclama- 
tions of the United States, included in the amnesty oath : 
Resolved further, 

''That we recommend the appointment of our pres- 
ent county officers to their respective offices, so far as the 
governor may not be precluded by previous action in the 
matter — they taking the necessary oath and making the 
proper bonds." 

The General Officers from Arkansas in the Confeder- 
ate Service (1861- '65). 

Arkansas furnished four major-generals and twenty 
brigadier-generals to the Confederate armies, besides 



118 High Lights 

nine brigadier-generals commissioned by the state au- 
thorities. The major-generals, in the order of their ap- 
pointment, were: Thomas C. Hindman, Patrick R. Cle- 
burne, James F. Fagan, and Thomas J. Churehill. The 
brigadier-generals, with the date of the appointment of 
each, where the date could be had, were: Charles W. 
Adams, 1862; Frank C. Armstrong, April 23, 1863; W. 
N. R. Beall, April 17, 1862; Archibald J. Dobbins, 1864; 
Thomas P. Dockery, August 10, 1863 ; Edward W. Gantt ; 
Daniel C. Grovan, February 6, 1864; Alexander T. Haw- 
thorne, February 22, 1864: John L. Logan; Thomas H. 
MoCray, 1863; Evander McNair, November 4, 1862; 
Dandridge McRae, November 5, 1862; M. M. Parsons, 
November 5, 1862 ; Albert Pike, August 15, 1861 ; Lucius 
E. Polk, December 20, 1862 : Daniel H. Rejmolds, March 
12, 1864; John S. Roame, March 20, 1862; Albert Rust, 
March 6, 1862 ; James C. Tappan, November 5, 1862 ; L. 
Marsh Walker, April 11, 1862. The following were com- 
missioned brigadier-generals by the State of Arkansas: 
Seth M. Barton, N. B. Burrow!! William L. Cabell, John 
H. Kelly, James iMcIntosh^ John B. Murray, N. B. 
Pearce, Charles W. Phifer and James Yell. 

Confederate Women or Arkansas (1861- '65). 

A^Tiile the men of Arkansas were in the field for prin- 
ciples, the women of the state nobly lent them aid in 
every possible way. They would meet in halls, churches 
and private homes to scrape linen, make bandages and 
other hospital supplies, often contributing their table 
linen, bed clothing, cambric curtains, and what not, for 
the purpose. They organized sewing societies for mak- 
ing clothing for the soldiers. Aristocratic fingers, un- 
used to work, were taught by heroic resolution to han- 
dle the needle, knit socks, card wool, and even use the 
hand loom in weaving cloth. The cloth they wove was 
<x>arse in texture and the garments they made were not 
of the latest fashion, but they served to keep their loved 
ones comfortable. It was no doubt due to the heroic 



Arkansas History 119 

labors and sacrifices of the woman that the South was 
able to liold out as long as it did. On the state capitol 
grounds in Little Rock stands a monument dedicated in 
1912 ''To the Mothers of Arkansas" for the part they 
took in these labors and sacrifices. Soldiers' monuments 
have been erected all over the country, but Arkansas is 
one of the very few states thus to commemorate the un- 
selfiish devotion of its daughters in times which tried 
men's souls. 

The Public School System of Arkansas Established 
(1867). 

By the autumn of 1863 practically all that part of 
Arkansas north of the Arkansas River was in the hands 
of the Federals. Under a proclamation by President 
Abraham Lincoln a constitutional convention was held 
at Little Rock in January, 1864. And under that con- 
stitution Isaac Murphy was elected governor. For some 
years before the war he had been a teacher in North- 
western Arkansas. He was naturally interested in the 
subject of education. In his first message to the General 
Assembly he said: ''As this is the first session of the 
Legislature of the free State of Arkansas, I tinist that 
your honorable body will provide by law that every 
child in the State shall have an opportunity of acquiring 
a good education, and not only give the opportunity, but 
make the education of the rising generation a duty to the 
State, to be enforced by proper penalties. Ignorance 
leads to slavery; intelligence to freedom." That Legis- 
lature failed to act upon Mui-phy's suggestion, and at the 
next session, which met in November, 1866, he used 
stronger language in urging the establishment of a free 
school system based on taxation. On March 18, 1867, 
five days before the final adjournment, the General As- 
sembly passed a law which, in many respects, has formed 
the basis of all subsequent school legislation. It pro- 
vided that "for the purpose of establishing a system of 
oommon school education in this State a tax is hereby 



120 High Lights 

levied of twenty cents on every $100 worth of taxable 
property in this State, and shall be collected and paid 
into the State treasury annually, in the same manner as 
now provided by law for other State taxes. The act also 
provided for the election of a State superintendent of 
public instruction at the general election in 1868, and 
for an appointment by the Legislature for the interim. 
The Legislature elected F. E. Earle, president of Cane 
Hill College, superintendent of public instruction, but he 
was removed by a military order of Gen. E. 0. C. Ord 
on August 9, 1867, on the grounds that "his services are 
not needed". Stephen B. Weeks, in a history of the pub- 
lic school system of Arkansas, published by the United 
States Bureau of Education, says of the Murphy govern- 
ment: "The service of this regime was not so much the 
actual organization of schools, but the creation of re- 
sources which made the schools of the future a possibil- 
ity. For this service the 'rebel' Legislature of 1866-67 
and the 'Union' governor, Murphy, deserve to be held 
in grateful remembrance by the people of Arkansas." 

A State Constitution Framed and Adopted by Carpet- 
bag Reconstructors (1868). 

Congress passed March 2, 1867, over President An- 
drew Johnson's veto, the famous reconstruction act "for 
the more efficient government of the Rebel States". Un- 
der this, and supplementary acts, Arkansas and Mis- 
sissippi were constituted the Fourth Military District. 
Major-General E. 0. C. Ord was made commander-in- 
chief of the district, \^-ith headquarters at Vicksburg, Mis- 
sissippi. The sub-district of Arkansas was commanded 
first by Brigadier-General C. H. Smith, and later by 
General Alvan C. Gillem. On July 8, 1867, several mem- 
bers of the Arkansas General Assembly assembled in 
Little Rock to attend an adjourned session of that body; 
whereupon they were told by General Smith that he had 
orders from General Ord not to allow them to organize 
for the transaction of business. Thus did military rule, 



Arkansas History 121 

as perpetrated by the Congressional plan of reconstruc- 
tion, begin its work of undoing the orderly and efficient 
civil government established under Governor Isaac Mur- 
phy. The next important undoing step, as provided for 
under Congressional reconstruction, called for the regis- 
tration of voters, under the superintendence of the mili- 
tary government. This was done in preparation for the 
holding of an election for the choice of delegates to a con- 
vention to frame a State constitution. On September 26, 
1867, General Ord issued ''General Orders No. 31", de- 
claring the registration of voters in Arkansas complete 
and ordering an election "commencing on the first Tues- 
day in November". General Order No. 31, also appor- 
tioned the seventy-five delegates to be chosen from the 
several counties, and prescribed rules and regulations 
to govern the manner of conducting the election in all 
precincts. The election was held in the different pre- 
cincts of the various counties on separate days. Thus 
the election for the State as a whole continued through 
several days. But few of the ex-Confederates took any 
part at all in the election, many of whom were disfran- 
chised. Under the tutelage of the army of occupation, 
the negroes were marched to the polls and told how to 
vote. Of the delegates chosen, eight were negroes; the 
rest, but for a few notable exceptions, were carpetbag- 
gers and scalawags. The convention met at Little Rock, 
in the house of representatives, January 7, 1868, and 
continued in session until February 11, The constitu- 
tion, as framed by this convention, gave the negroes the 
elective franchise and otherwise provided the necessary 
machinery for keeping the control of State affairs in the 
hands of the carpetbaggers. The new constitution was 
declared adopted by the people April 23, 1868, by a vote 
of 27,913 ''for" to 26,597 "against". 

The Arkansas Deaf Mute Institute Established (1868). 

The Arkansas Gazette and Democrat of March 21, 
1851, contained the following announcement: "The 



122 High Lights 

trustees of the Clarksville Institute have made arrange- 
ments to have a class of deaf mutes taught. The school 
for mutes T^ill open on the first of May. Tuition gratis. 
Boarding can be had very reasonable. Only a limited 
number of pupils (6 or 8) Avill be taken. Persons wish- 
ing to send may know more by addressing the 'Trustees 
of the Clarks^nlle Institute, Johnson County, Ark. Ap- 
plication must be made soon." This was the first at- 
tempt to establish a school for the education of deaf 
mutes in Arkansas. The Clarksville Institute, however, 
for want of patronage, was, after few months, suspended. 
Then, in 1860, a deaf mute school was organized in Fort 
Smith. Then came the war. and, like many similar in- 
stitutions in the South, it was crushed out of existence. 
On July 10, 1867, Joseph Mount, himself a deaf mute, 
opened a school in Little Rock. It was a private institu- 
tion, though the city contributed to its support. By an 
act of the General Assembly 'approved July 17, 1868. 
this school Avas incorporated as **The Arkansas Deaf 
Mute Institute" and permanently located at Little Rock. 
It has since enjoyed the liberal support of State, as one 
of the charitable institutions of the State. 

Maetial Law Declaeed — One of the Typical Outrages 
OF Reconstruction (1868). 

r 

The first Republican governor, under the constitu- 
tion of 1868, General Powell Clayton, was inaugurated 
July 2, 1868. And the Clayton regime, of the next four 
years, made a record of tyranny and misrule as black as 
the blackest of the ''Black Republican" governments per- 
petrated upon the Southern States by Congressional re- 
construction. Under the pretense of suppressing the Ku 
Klux Klan, Clayton, almost immediately upon taking of- 
fice, organized a secret detective force composed of his 
political henchmen; issued instructions to tlie oflficers 
of the State militia, according to his own statement, "to 
proceed with the utmost secrecj^ and dispatch in the 
further org-anization of the State Guards". The 



Arkansas History 123 

^'Ouards" thus secretly organized were made up of ne- 
groes and guerrillas, whose chief recommendation was 
their zest and capacity for the bloody work which Clay- 
ton had for them to do. On November 4, 1868. the militia 
having been organized with ''the utmost secrecy", Gov- 
ernor Clayton issued his proclamation declaring mar- 
tial law in the counties of Ashley, Bradley, Columbia, 
Craighead, Greene, Lafayette, Little River, Mississippi 
and Woodruff. Three days later he divided the State 
into six military districts and appointed a commanding 
officer in each ''for the purpose of perfecting the or- 
ganization of the militia and carrying into effect the 
proclamation declaring martial law." Martial law was 
soon extended to other counties, until the greater part of 
the State was in the hands of the "State Guards". 
Naturally enough, social conditions were not normal fol- 
lowing the War. But where there had been one out- 
rage committed during Governor Isaac Mruphy's ad- 
ministration, from 1864 to 1868, there were scores of 
murders and robberies and what not as soon as Clay- 
ton's Guards took the field. 

The Ku-Klux Klan (1868). 

It is said upon the very best authority that "There 
"^as really no organization of the Ku-Klux Klan in the 
State of Arkansas." That there were "sporadic at- 
tempts" to form such an organization, w^hich "came to 
naught", seems a true enough statement of the facts. 
Yet the late Powell Cla>i;on, during the time of his ad- 
ministration as governor of Arkansas, made a great fuss 
of accusinq- the Ku-Kln^ of every crime imajrinable. One 
acnuainted with condition^ froni perso-nal observation 
said. "Clav<-on was no coward. TTio ey"^iihition of a^^Dre- 
hension at th'^ existonne of the Ku-Klux must have been 
simula+od. He had his spy in the onlv lodo-e ever or- 
ganized in Little Rook, and he knew that it heM but 
one meeting: that it never took the slightest action of 
any kind and disbanded." There were, it seems, other 



124 High Liohti 

lodges formed during the Clayton regime; whose his- 
tory was much the same as this brief history of the lodge 
at Little Rock. It is true, perhaps, that the late General 
Robert G. Shaver was commissioned by the Grand Wiz- 
zard, General Nathan B. Forrest, Grand Dragon of the 
realm of Arkansas. But it is true also that the organiza- 
tion of the State as a realm A\^as never perfected. Thus 
Clayton's accusations at the time, and as well the vin- 
dictive stuff of the same sort with which he late in life 
all but filled his book, ''The Aftermath of the Civil War 
in Arkansas", were manifestly framed by himself and 
his henchmen for reasons of his own of a political nature, 
or from pure malice. 

The State Debt Funded (1869). 

Of the more than three million dollars in bonds is- 
sued for the benefit of the Real Estate Bank and the State 
Bank of Arkansas thirty years before, there was, in 
1869, an unpaid balance, including principal and interest, 
of $4,331,092. Part of these old bonds fell due on Jan- 
nary 1, 1868. But the State had not the money with 
which to redeem them. Thus Governor Powell Clayton 
advised, in his message to the General Assembly in No- 
vember, 1868, that steps be taken to fund the whole 
amount of the State's bonded debt by issuing new bonds 
and cancelling the old ones. An act to that effect was 
accordingly passed; which act Clayton approved April 
6, 1869. By this act the governor was ''authorized and 
required to fund the debt of the State, consisting of bonds 
issued by the State to the Real Estate Bank and the 
State Bank, by issuing new bonds of the State, .... 

for the sum of $1,000 each, payable thirty 

years after date and bearing interest at the rate of six 
per cent, per annum." Of the bonds thus funded, all 
have been long since paid, except the so-called Holford 
bonds, the history of which is told in another place. 



Arkansas History 125 

The Fiest Street Railway in Abkaksas 
Incorporated (1870). 

The first street car company in Arkansas was in- 
corporated at Little Rock June 17, 1870. W. E. Wright 
was president and the franchise required the company 
to have one-half mile of track laid and in use within 
three years. The company failed to carry out this pro- 
vision and on June 13, 1873, a franchise was granted to 
the Citizens Street Railway Company. About the same 
time the Little Rock Railway Company was incorporated. 
On October 10, 1876, Logan H. Roots, Thomas Fletcher 
and John M. Harrell applied for a charter to lay a street 
railway line on Markham Street; and at the same time 
John Cross and Charles R. Diver submitted a proposi- 
tion to construct a street railway. Both the latter prop- 
ositions were accepted and, shortly thereafter, the first 
**mule car" made its appearance upon the streets. Dur- 
ing the period from 1881 to 1887 three other street rail- 
way companies were incorporated. One of these — the 
City Electric Street Railway Company — ^obtained a 
charter permitting it to use either electric or steam 
power. The line was built from the junction of Second 
and Louisiana Streets to the southwestern part of the 
city, two diminutive locomotives were purchased, and the 
road went into operation on July 4, 1888. The locomo- 
tives each drew one or two cars, as occasion demanded, 
and made the round trip in about an hour. In June, 
1895, this company and the Capital City Railway Com- 
pany went into the hands of a receiver and were reor- 
ganized as the Little Rock Railway and Electric Com- 
pany, with Judge Wilson E. Hemingway as president. 

The State Medical Society of Arkansas 
Formed (1870). 

Delegates from a number of county medical soci- 
eties met in Little Rock November 21, 1870, for the pur- 
pose of effecting a state organization of the physicians 
of Arkansas. At that meeting Dr. J. M. Holcombe, of 



126 , High Lights 

Jefferson county, presided, with Drs. E. V, Deuell and 
M. C. Boyce acting as secretaries. A constitution and 
by-laws were adopted and the following officers were 
elected: Dr. P. 0. Hooper, president; E. R. DuVal, W. 
P. Hart and S. W. Jones, vice presidents; E. V. Deuell 
and Julian C. Feild, recording secretaries; Claiborne 
Watkins, corresponding secretary; J. B. Bond, treas- 
urer. The organization was called the State Medical 
Association. In October, 1875, a new constitution and 
by-laws were adopted and the name was changed to the 
State Medical Society of Arkansas. The new constitu- 
tion was signed by 217 members and the following offi- 
cers were elected: Dr. W. B. Welch, president; Drs. 
Albert Dunlap, Randolph Brunson, J. P. Mitchell and 
E. T. Dale, vice presidents; Dr. R. G. Jennings, secre- 
tary; Dr. A. L. Breysacher, treasurer. Since that time 
the growth of the society has been steady. It now has 
more than a thousand members. 

The IJNnrEEsiTY of Arkansas Established (1871). 

The University of Arkansas was established by an 
act of the General Assembly approved March 27, 1871. 
This act, ''for the location, organization and main- 
tenance of the Arkansas Industrial University with a 
normal department therein", accepted the terms of the 
so-called Morrill act of Congress. Justin S. Morrill, a 
member of Congress from Vermont, had proposed as 
long ago as 1857, a bill in Congress "donating public 
lands to the several states and territories which may pro- 
vide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the me- 
chanic arts." The House passed the bill in April, 1858. 
It was not, however, taken up by the Senate until the 
next session, where it was passed February 1, 1859. 
Whereupon, President James Buchanan promptly vetoed 
it. But Morrill brought in a new bill in December, 1861; 
which was passed by both houses of Congress, and ap- 
proved by President Abraham Lincoln July 2, 1862. 
Thus each state or territory was granted, upon certain 



Arkansas History 127 

conditions, 30,000 acres of public lands for each of its 
senators and representatives in Congress, as appor- 
tioned nnder the census of 1860. States wishing to ben- 
efit by the grant were required to accept the gift and 
agree to all the conditions imposed within the space of 
two years. Arkansas was, then, of course, one of the se- 
ceded states; so that nothing was done about the mat- 
ter in Arkansas until 1864. But on May 11, 1864, Gov- 
ernor Isaac Murphy approved an act of the General 
Assembly accepting the grant and pledging the State of 
Arkansas to fulfil all the conditions imposed. Then 
came the struggle in Congress over reconstruction; the 
refusal of Congress to seat the senators and representa- 
tives elected to Congress from Arkansas, as recon- 
structed by the Murphy government, and nothing further 
was done about the university grant until 1866. In July 
of that year Congress amended the Morrill act so as to 
include the reconstructed states, and extending the time 
three years for their acceptance of the conditions. Ac- 
cordingly, Governor Murphy approved, January 31, 
1867, another act similar to the one he had approved in 
1864. But the Murphy government was not allowed to 
establish the university. A new constitution was 
adopted by the carpetbagger regime in 1868, Powell 
Clayton was elected governor and on July 23, 1868, he 
approved an act entitled *'An Act establishing an Indus- 
trial University". Under this act, a board was ap- 
pointed to receive bids for a location and to report to 
the next session of the General Assembly. Nothing hav- 
ing come of these plans, a new act was passed at the ses- 
sion of 1871; which, as already stated, was approved 
March 27. By the terms of this act, any county, city 
or incorporated town was authorized to bid for the loca- 
tion of the University and to raise money for the erec- 
tion of buildings either by levying a tax or by the issue 
of bonds. Fayetteville was the successful bidder and 
the site chosen was without buildings, except one six- 
room dwelling. The citizens of Fayette\ille and Wash- 
ington County undertook to remodel the dwelling and 



128 High Lights 

erect a two-story frame structure which could be used 
temporarily for school purposes and later be converted 
into a dormitory. The university opened on January 
22, 1872, with N. P. Gates as president. 

The First Knights of Pythias 
Lodge Organized (1872). 

On October 20, 1872, Alpha Lodge No. 1, Knights 
of Pythias, was instituted at Fort Smith. This was the 
first Pythian Lodge organized in Arkansas. It lived but 
a few months, but before it perished two other lodges 
had been organized in the state. Damon Lodge No. 3, 
at Little Rock, was instituted on April 14, 1873, and is 
now the oldest lodge in the state. On June 23, 1881, the 
Arkansas Grand Lodge was organized, with eight lodges 
participating. The membership in the state at that time 
was not quite five hundred. Thomas Essex, of Little 
Rock, was elected the first grand chancellor and John 
M. Taylor, of Pine Bluff, the first grand keeper of the 
records and seal. At the beginning of the year 1921, 
there were over one hundred lodges in Arkansas, with a 
membership of about six thousand. 

The Press Association Organized (1873). 

Pursuant to a call made by the editors of several 
newspapers of Arkansas, a number of editors and pub- 
lishers met on October 15, 1873, in Little Rock for the 
purpose of organizing a state press association. James 
Torrans, of the Li4tle Rock Republican, was called to 
the chair and J. N. Smithee, of The Arkansas Gazette, 
was elected secretary. H. A. Pierce, J. N. Smithee and 
William R. Burke were appointed a committee on per- 
manent organization, after which the meeting adjourned 
until 10 a. m. the next day. At the adjourned session 
the committee submitted a constitution, which was 
adopted. E. N. Hill, J. B. Bezzo, and Adam Clark were 
then appointed a committee to prepare a code of by- 
laws for the association, but at the evening session this 



Arkansas History 129 

committee was given until the next annual meeting to 
complete its work. The following officers were then 
elected : J. N. Smithee, president ; James Torrans, vice 
president; Jacob Frolich, secretary; William R. Burke, 
treasurer. Immediately after the election of officers, the 
association adjourned to the Metropolitan Hotel, where 
a banquet was served. A number of toasts and responses 
were offered and the evening was a ' ' feast of reason and 
flow of soul." At the conclusion of the banquet the Ar- 
kansas Press Association adjourned to meet on the first 
Wednesday in June, 1874. Since its organization the as- 
sociation has held annual meetings, and has also held a 
number of '' mid-winter meetings", at which the social 
feature predominated. At the forty-ninth meeting, held 
in Hot Springs, June 15-16, 1921, steps were taken to 
build a club house at Glenwood, Pike County, where Gra- 
ham Burnham, of the Glenwood "Houn' Dog", offered 
to donate ten acres of land on the Caddo River for the 
purpose. In fact, the project was first proposed in 1920, 
and a special committee, appointed to examine the site, 
made a favorable report. 

The Brooks-Baxter War (1874). 

In the election of 1872 the Republican party of Ar- 
kansas was split up into two factions. The ''Minstrels", 
who claimed to be the regular Republicans, nominated 
Elisha Baxter as candidate for governor. The "Brin- 
dles", who identified themselves with the national "lib- 
eral" Republicans, put in nomination Joseph Brooks. 
The Democrats did not nominate a candidate of their 
own, but endorsed the nomination of Brooks. The elec- 
tion was held November 5, 1872. Of the more than 
eighty thousand votes cast, Baxter was officially de- 
clared to have received a majority of 2,948. Brooks re- 
fused to abide by the returns, as officially made, declar- 
ing that he himself had been legally elected. A conven- 
tion of Brooks' supporters met at Little Rock on Janu- 
ary 4, 1873, but two days before the day set for the meet- 



130 High Lights 

ing of the General Assembly. The Brooks men were bent 
it seems, on making an issue of the disputed election in 
the legislature. In view of the gathering of Brooks men, 
Ozra A. Hadley, acting governor, put the state capitol 
under a guard of Powell Clayton's militia. Thus the 
plans of Brooks and his followers to force the seating of 
Brooks as governor were, for the time, defeated. Bax- 
ter was inaugurated and the General Assembly contin- 
ued in session until April 25, 1873. On June 3, following, 
T. D. W. Yonley, the attorney general, instituted, on the 
relation of Brooks, quo warranto proceedings in the Su- 
preme Court against Baxter; which the court dismissed 
the next day, declaring that it had no jurisdiction in the 
matter. Powell Clayton, who, by dint of his hold upon 
affairs as governor, had got himself elected to the United 
States Senate in 1871, had thus far supported Baxter, 
intending no doubt to use Baxter as a willing tool in 
maintaining his (Clayton's) control of the state from 
his seat in the United States Senate. Brooks ' next move 
was to file a suit in the circuit court of Pulaski County 
setting forth that Baxter had usurped the office of gov- 
ernor and demanding that he be ousted. While this suit 
was still pending, the Clayton wing of the Eepublican 
party discovered something upon which they had counted 
not all: Baxter refused to take orders from Clayton; in 
making appointments, he was plainly trying to choose 
men of character and ability for positions of trust regard- 
less of politics; frustrated were the well laid plans of 
Clayton's followers to use the government to enrich 
themselves. Clayton promptly went over to the side of 
Brooks. Likewise, most of the Democrats, who had sup- 
ported Brooks, turned now to Baxter. On April 15, 
1874, Judge John Whytock, of the Pulaski Circuit Court, 
in the absence of Baxter and his attorneys, decided 
Brook's suit against Baxter in favor of Brooks — that 
Brooks was the lawfully elected governor. What then 
happened is best told perhaps by Baxter himself, in a 
letter written a few weeks later to the New York Herald : 
"By an extraordinary coincidence Mr. Brooks and his 



Arkansas History 131 

friends were convenient to the scene of the judgment. 
Without awaiting the issue of the writ of ouster, and 
upon the overruling of the demurrer, no moment of time 
being given for the filing of an answer on the merits of 
the case, these gentlemen procuring a mere copy of the 
minutes of the judge's action, and, by a second conici- 
dence, finding the chief justice close by, had Mr. Brooks 
secretly sworn as governor. The party proceeded with- 
out delay to the executive office, where, as I have in a 
public proclamation remarked, the traditions of the 
American people would have rendered it absurd to place 
an armed guard or even a vidette, Mr. Brooks, in per- 
son, with an armed force of a dozen or twenty, took 
possession of my room, and I was permitted to the alter- 
native of forcible and unseemly ejection, or of such ar- 
rest and punishment as he might see fit to inflict. Before 
I could take measures to reoccupy the state-house it was 
filled with armed desperadoes." Governor Baxter went 
at once to St. John 's College, near the present City Park, 
whence he issued a proclamation to the people and com- 
missioned the college cadets as a sort of body guard. 
Later he established headquarters at the Anthony House 
on the south side of Markham street between Main and 
Scott streets. Meantime, both Baxter and Brooks had 
appealed to President U. S. Grant for recognition; who 
said in reply that the contest was a matter for the courts 
to settle. Senator Clayton telegraphed Brooks from 
Washington, ''We rely on your maintaining your van- 
tage ground, which you must hold at any cost. ' ' A meet- 
ing of the leading lawyers of the state at Little Rock 
on April 16th denounced the whole judicial proceedings 
by which Brooks justified his revolutionary act of 
usurpation as null and void. In an address signed by 
forty-four attorneys, the people were urged to rally to 
the support of Baxter, Volunteers from many parts of 
the state hurried to Little Rock, in support of the one side 
or the other, until within a few days there were not less 
than three thousand armed men in the city. Robert C. 



132 High Lights 

Newton was appointed Major-General of Baxter's army; 
Brooks commissioned Major-General James F. Fagan 
commander-in-cliief of his forces. The first actual fight- 
ing occurred on the afternoon of April 20, 1874. The 
fighting started by the parading of some five hundred 
Baxter reinforcements, just arrived from Pine Bluff, 
who had halted in front of the Anthony House to hear 
Governor Baxter speak from a balcony of the hotel. 
A pistol was fired, as the result of a scufile between two 
ofiicers of the opposing forces. In the excitement, other 
shots were fired, and then followed an irregular skirm- 
ish in Markham street between Brook's men, who were 
posted near by to guard the State Capitol, and the Bax- 
ter men. David F. Shall, sitting near a window in the 
hotel was killed, and two others were wounded. On 
April 30th, the steamboat ^'Hallie", with two hundred 
Baxter men on board, was sent down the Arkansas 
to intercept a company of negroes intended as rein- 
forcements for Brooks. Near New Gascony, twenty- 
five miles below Pine Bulff, the two forces engaged in a 
skirmish, in which seven of the Brooks men were killed 
and thirty others wounded. There was fio'hting again on 
May 8th, in which the steamboat *'Hallie" played an 
imrtortant part. As the steamboat passed up the river 
with a company of Baxter men on board, sent to capture 
supplies and reinforcements coiming to the relief of 
Brooks, the "Hallie" was fired on as it passed the 
State Capitol. Several hundred Brooks men were sent 
by train to the south of Palarm Creek, where thev con- 
cealed themselves and waited for the **Hallie". In the 
fighting that followed, between the Brooks men on shore 
and the ''Hallie", there were several casualties on both 
sides. This affair is known as "The Battle of Palarm". 
The ''"War" was finally settled by proclamation of Presi- 
dent Grant, issued May 15, 1874, in which Baxter was 
recognized as the lawfully elected governor. 



Arkansas History 133 

*'Lady Baxter" Christened (1874). 

Soon after the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, 
the steamboat "Pontchartrain" brought from New Or- 
leans a sixtj^-four-pound cannon for the defense of Little 
Rock. This gun was placed on the bank of the river, 
in a position to destroy any boat coming up stream. 
Thus, during the first half of the war, the old gun was 
kept in readiness for the defense of the city. When the 
Confederates evacuated Little Rock on September 10, 
1863, upon the approach of General Frederick Steele, the 
big gun was spiked by order of Capt. John T. Trigg, 
commanding the battery, and was abandoned, being too 
heavy to carry on the retreat. Late in April, 1874, dur- 
ing the Brooks-Baxter "War, the Baxter forces found the 
old cannon lying half -imbedded in the earth near the foot 
of Byrd street. It was resurrected, christened ''Lady 
Baxter", made ready for use, and was placed in position 
in the rear of the Metropolitan Hotel, on the corner of 
Main and Markham streets, to prevent the landing of 
boats coming up the river with men or supplies for 
Brooks. The only time the gun was discharged after its 
resurrection was in the salute fired in honor of Governor 
Baxter's return to the capitol on May 19, 1874. Subse- 
quently, "Lady Baxter" was mounted in the old capitol 
grounds, where it still stands as a mute reminder of re- 
construction days. 

A New Constitution ; the End of Carpetbag 
Mis-rule (1874). 

On April 22, 1874, while the Brooks-Baxter war was 
at its height, Governor Baxter issued a call for the Gen- 
eral Assembly to meet in special session on the 11th of 
May. Pursuant to the call, the Legislature met (inside 
the Baxter lines) and as both the Lieutenant-governor 
and Speaker Tankersley were absent, J. G. Frierson was 
elected president pro tempore of the senate, and James 
H. Berry was chosen speaker. The most important 
act of the session was that of calling a constitutional 



134 High Lights 

convention, which act was approved by Governor Baxter 
on May 18, 1874. It provided for an election to he held 
on the last day of June and apportioned the delegates 
among the several counties of the state. At the election 
80,259 votes were cast **For Convention" and only 
8,547 ''Against Convention". The convention organized 
by the election of Grandison D. Royston president and 
Thomas W. Newton secretary. On September 7, 1874, 
the constitution was completed and signed by a majority 
of the delegates. The constitution was submitted to the 
people at an election held on October 13, 1874, when it 
was ratified by a vote of 78,697 to 24,807. 

The Restoration of White Supremacy (1874). 

On July 21, 1874, while the constitutional convention 
which framed the present constitution of Arkansas, was 
still in session, a mass meeting of citizens in Little Rock 
issued a call for a Democratic state convention; sug- 
gested a basis of representation for such a convention of 
eighty-five delegates; proposed that the said convention 
be held immediately upon the adjournment of the con- 
stitutional convention. It was assumed, as a matter of 
course, that the new constitution would provide for the 
election of a new set of state officers; which it did, set- 
ting October 13, 1874, as the day for the election. Thus, 
the proposed constitution provided for two elections in 
one — its own ratification or rejection and the choice of 
new state officials, who should take office in the event of 
the adoption of the constitution itself. But m.eantime the 
Democratic state convention, as proT)osod at Littlo Rock 
in Julv, had met there on September 8th. The dele9:ates 
nominated Eb'sha Baxter for <rovornor on the first ballot. 
But Governor Baxter d^ob'ned thf^ nom^'nation, as hp s?iid, 
in a message ncknowledp-infr the honor donp him. "for the 
public jyood". i^"-ain the conv^n+ion nominated ln'm — 
this time by acclamation : a^-ain he recused to accent; 
wherounon Aup'ustns H. ^arla^id wr"^ nominated. The 
Republicans took the position that the proposed consti- 



Arkansas History 1S5 

tution was illegallj^ framed. Naturally, therefore, they 
put in nomination no opposing ticket. Thus Garland 
and the rest of the Democratic ticket were elected, Oc- 
tober 13, 1874, by a practically unanimous vote. The in- 
auguration of Garland, which took place November 12, 
1874, is sgnificant as the final consumation of the process 
by which Arkansas was freed of the political regime 
foisted upon it by Congressional reconstruction. So- 
called "Reconstruction", as instituted and maintained by 
the familiar combination of carpet-baggers, scallawags 
and negroes had had its day ; real reconstruction of a new 
political, social and economic structure was, with the 
election of Garland, honestly and hopefully begun. 

Arkansas Represented at the Centennial. 
Exposition in Philadelphia (1876). 

Governor Augustus H. Garland, in his message to 
the General Assembly on November 1, 1875, on the first 
day of the special, or adjourned, session of the Legisla- 
ture of that year, recommended that an appropriation 
be made for an exhibition of the state's products at the 
Centennial Exposition, to be held in Philadelphia during 
the summer of 1876, in celebration of the hundredth an- 
niversary of the Declaration of Independence. Accord- 
ingly, the sum of $15,000 was appropriated for that pur- 
pose, by an act approved November 30, 1875. Though 
the fund was a modest one, it is said that the building 
which was erected was highly appropriate to the oc- 
casion; that the exhibits displayed were a credit to the 
state. The truth of both these statements is avouched by 
the acts of the Bureau of Awards in awarding Arkansas 
honorable mention as follows: (1) For a large, well- 
planned state building; (2) For a large, comprehensive, 
and very attractive exhibit of the natural and industrial 
products of the state, and a very valuable mineral col- 
lection; (3) For a large collection of native woods; (4) 
For an exhibit of agricultural products, especially of 
corn and cotton, the latter equalling any fiber of its kind 



136 High Lights 

raised in the United States. The state took first and 
second premiums also of $1,000 and $500 each for cotton 
exhibited in the bale. This was the first attempt on the 
part of Arkansas to display its resources abroad. The 
next year, in 1877, a statue designed to represent the 
gtate coat of arms on the Arkansas building at the expo- 
sition was brought from Philadelphia and set up on a 
pediment over the main entrance of the State Capitol. 

Hot Springs Made a National Park (1877). 

The title to the land upon which much of the city of 
Hot Springs is built was in dispute until 1877. There 
were then three separate claimants of land there, whose 
claims overlapped. Elias Rector, father of Governor 
Henry M. Rector, bought, in 1820, a Ncav Madrid certifi- 
cate of one Francis Langlois, which certificate he (Rec- 
tor) located on a tract including the springs. Another 
claim to the land was based on the settlement of Lud- 
ovicus Belding, who settled at the spring in 1828. Still 
others knowTi as the Hale claimants, based their titles on 
the occupation of the valley by John Perciful, who 
bought, in 1809, the occupation claim of Manuel Prud- 
homme, the latter having built the first cabin there in 
1807. This uncertainty as to the o"svnership of the town 
site, it seems, retarded the growth of the town almost 
from the time that Arkansas was created a territory, 
in 1819, until the question was finally settled. The "Daily 
Advertiser" of Philadelphia on May 18, 1835, printed 
an article in which it was said that the Hot Springs 
"have been knoTvm almost as long as the Arkansas River 
and have been a place of great resort, particularly from 
the South, for many years past. All that is necessary 
to make them a place of fashionable resort — as they have 
heretofore been for health — is the want of those exten- 
sive and permanent edifices which are usually looked for 
by visitors at such places. Such buildings cannot be ex- 
pected until the title to the land on which they (the 
springs) are situate shall be settled". In the meantime, 



Aekansas History 137 

Congress had passed an act as early as 1832 setting apart 
four sections of land, including the springs, as exempt 
from private ownership, ^'by purchase, settlement or 
preemption". Nevertheless, the several claimants per- 
sisted in their claims, and in 1852 went into the courts to 
determine by litigation who was entitled to the property. 
Some years later the United States Supreme Court de- 
cided against all three claimants. But in 1877 Congress 
authorized the appointment of commissioners to settle 
the rights of possession. By this time the valley con- 
tained some four thousand inhabitants. The commis- 
sioners placed valuations upon the various parcels of 
land and decided who were entitled to purchase the same. 
In this way the Belding and Hale claimants were enabled 
to purchase at least a portion of the land they claimed, 
but the Rector claim was barred. The commissioners 
also laid out the city and caused the Hot Springs Reser- 
vation to be surveyed. The survey was approved by an 
act of Congress on March 3, 1877, making this reserva- 
tion the second national park in the United States, the 
Yellowstone National Park having been established by 
the act of March 1, 1872. 

The State Horticultural Society Formed (1879). 

The State Horticultural Society of Arkansas was 
organized on May 24, 1879. E. F. Babcock was elected 
the first president and M. "W. Manville, secretary. Prior 
to that time fruits and vegetables, that come under the 
head of horticulture, had been grown in various sections 
of the state, but no concerted effort has been made to 
encourage the industry. The society was incorporated on 
January 31, 1889. Under its auspices the first fair was 
held in Little Rock, beginning on May 15, 1889. The 
society holds its meetings annually. 



138 High Lights 

The First Station of the Weather 

Bureau in Arkansas Established (1879). 

The United States Weather Bureau opened at Little 
Rock the first station in Arkansas for observing and re- 
cording weather conditions July 1, 1879. The '' Arkansas 

Democrat" of June 27, 1879, says: 

''Sergeant Wm. Line, of the United States Signal 
Service Corps, United States Army, accompanied by his 
family, arrived in the city a few days since from Toledo, 
having been ordered to take up his residence and estab- 
lish a station in this city. 

''He Is now obeying orders, having rented room 
No. 1, second story of the Stoddard block, from the roof 
of which the observations will be taken, and upon which 
the many and complicated instruments are now being 
secured. The roof of the building is about seventy-five 
feet above the street, and the weather indicator and other 
instruments can be seen from all parts of the city. The 
ofiGcer informs us that he will keep a report as follows : 
meteorological observations, report of barometer, ther- 
mometer, humidity, wind and its direction and velocity, 
amount of upper and lower clouds and the direction in 
which they move, amount of rainfall, and weather 
phenomena in general. 

"The iron staffs upon which the instruments are 
fastened are hollow and connect with delicate instru- 
ments in the office, denoting the conditions without the 
necessity of examining the instruments on the roof. Re- 
ports will be made daily after the 1st of July." 

The First Telephones in Arkansas (1879). 

The Western Union Telegraph Company installed 
telephone service at Little Rock in 1879. The Little Rock 
Exchange, put into service in November of that year, 
is, it seems, the third oldest telephone exchange in the 



Arkansas History 139 

United States. The Western Union in 1881 sold the ex- 
change to a local company, of which the late Col. Logan 
H. Roots was president. In 1883, the Southwestern Tel- 
egraph and Telephone Company was organized and pur- 
chased the property. The exchange, located at 108 Scott 
street, then the office of the Western Union, started 
with but ten subscribers. The first directory was pub- 
lished in 1880. There were then, within a year after the 
installment of the exchange, about eighty subscribers. 
The following is quoted from an article which appeared 
in The Arkansas Gazette of August 1, 1915 : ' The first 
operator in the Little Rock telephone exchange was the 
late A. F. Adams, who later became superintendent of 
the company in Little Rock and died after 25 years' ser- 
vice. Beauregard Morrison, noAv buyer for the Fones 
Bros. Hardware Company, was the first night operator 
and Mrs. Morrison has the distinction of being not only 
the first woman operator in Little Rock, but in the United 
States. Sam W. Rayburn, president of the Union Trust 
Company, and Ashley Peay, city sidewalk inspector, 
were among the first of the operators in the exchange." 
Since its establishment in 1879, the exchange has been 
twice moved — first to the second story of the building 
on the northwest corner of Second and Main streets, and 
later to its present location on the southeast corner of 
Seventh and Louisiana streets. 

When the FmsT Ex-President or President 

OP the United States Visited Arkansas (1880). 

General Ulysses S. Grant, ex-President^of the United 
States, visited Little Rock, and Arkansas, in April, 1880. 
General Grant arrived in Little Rock at 7 o'clock on the 
evening of April 15, where he remained until the morn- 
ing of April 17th. The visit, intended as a courtesy to 
the State of Arkansas as a whole, was generally so es- 
teemed; delegations from many parts of the state were 
sent to Little Rock formally to greet and welcome the 
distinguished visitor. An eye-witness of the events of 



140 High Lights 

the memorable occasion, accounting for the cordial man- 
ner of General Grant's reception, said: 

''The Democratic leaders of the state, who were es- 
pecially grateful to the ex-president, bestowed upon him 
every mark of respect. It was on May 15, 1874, that 
President Grant issued his memorable proclamation by 
which he recognized Elisha Baxter as governor of Ar- 
kansas after a month's armed contest with Joseph 
Brooks and his supporters, which resulted in the re- 
storation of the state to the control of the Democratic 
party. In conversation with General Grant, Col. B. D. 
Williams, a Democrat, said: 

*' 'The Democrats of Arkansas have a warm spot 
in their hearts for you, both for your kindness to Lee 
at Appomattox and for your recognition of Governor 
Baxter six years ago." 

*' 'Well, what else could I have done?' replied Gen- 
eral Grant. 'The properly constituted authorities had 
declared in 1872 that Baxter was elected governor and 
he was recognized as such by the Legislature. I only 
performed my duty. The Democrats of Arkansas, I 
have found, are a pretty good set of fellows'." 

His two nights in Little Rock he spent at the old 
Capital Hotel. During the morning of April 16th, there 
was such a parade as was never before seen in Arkansas. 
In a brief speech, following the parade. Grant said : 

"Citizens of Arkansas: It is with much pleasure 
that I find myself among you. I believe that your future 
prosperity lies in the absence of all sectional feeling and 
animosity. You have the soil to cultivate and the lati- 
tude for a great variety of productions, but I understand 
you need many more people thoroughly to cultivate your 
cotton. These people, I hear, are coming, and I wish for 
Arkansas that the welcome of all newcomers may be 
cordial, no matter from whence they come. I thank you. ' ' 



Arkansas History 141 

In the evening he was given a banquet at Concordia 
Hall; upon which occasion he responded to the toast, 
''The United States of America." 

The Bar Association of Arkansas Organized (1882). 

The first attempt to organize a bar association in Ar- 
kansas, of which there is any known record, was that of 
November 24, 1837, when nineteen lawyers met in Little 
Rock and organized the "Bar Association of the State 
of Arkansas". These lawyers were: Chester Ashley, 
William McK. Ball, S. D. Blackburn, John J. Clendenin, 
John W. Cooke, William Conway B, Edward Cross, P. 
T. Crutchfield, William Cummins, Absalom Fowler, 
Nathan Haggard, Samuel S. Hall, Samuel H. Hempstead, 
William B. R. Horner, Lemuel R. Lincoln, Albert Pike, 
William C. Scott, F. W. Trapnall and George C. Wat- 
kins. Mr. Ball was from Fayetteville, Mr. Haggard from 
Batesville and Mr. Horner from Helena. All the others 
resided at Little Rock. This association seems to have 
held no meetings after January 15, 1838, when the presi- 
dent was directed to appoint a committee of three ''to 
draft a petition to the Legislature, praying an appropria- 
tion for the procuring of a law library, for the use of the 
Supreme Court, and members of the bar licensed to prac- 
tice therein, to be under the control and safe keeping of 
this association". But on March 15, 1882, a meeting was 
held at the office of Judge U. M. Rose, at Little Rock, for 
the purpose of taking the necessary steps to organize a 
State Bar Association. Twenty-two lawyers were pres- 
ent, viz: B. B. Battle, M. W. Benjamin, B. C. Brown, 
Sterling R. Cockrill, C. S. Collins, George E. Dodge, Z. 
P. H. Farr, B. S. Johnson, John McClure, C. B. Moore, 
John M. Moore, George B. Rose, John M. Rose, U. M. 
Rose, W. L. Terrv, and Samuel W. Williams, of Little 
Rock; M. L. Bell and W. S. McCain, of Pine Bluff; T. C. 
McRae, of Prescott ; Charles Coffin, of Walnut Ridge ; T. 
P. McGovern, of Jonesboro, and M. T. Sanders, of Hel- 
ena. M. L. Bell was called to the chair and M. T. Sanders 



142 High Lights 

"was chosen secretar}^ Judge U. M. Rose offered a reso- 
lution to the effect that the meeting deemed it important 
and proper to organize a State Bar Association, "to ad- 
vance the science of jurisprudence, to promote the admin- 
istration of justice, to uphold the honor of the profession 
and to encourage cordial intercourse among the members 
of the bar". After the adoption of the resolution a com- 
mittee of three was appointed to draft a constitution and 
by-laws, with instructions to report to an adjourned meet- 
ing to be held on May 24, 1882. A call was then issued 
to the lawyers of the state, inviting them to meet in 
Little Rock on that date to perfect the organization. 
The meeting of May 24th was held in the hall of the 
House of Representatives. All parts of the state were 
represented, the constitution and by-laws prepared by 
the committee were adopted, with some slight altera- 
tions, and an association with eighty-nine charter mem- 
bers was organized. Marcus L. Bell was elected presi- 
dent; Sterling R. Cockrill, secretary; George E. Dodge, 
treasurer, and a vice president was elected for each of the 
twelve judicial districts, to-wit: 1. AV. W. Howes, For- 
rest City; 2. T. P. McGovern, Jonesboro; 3. Charles 
Coffin, Walnut Ridge; 4. J. E. Wilson, Yellville; 5. 
George S. Cunningham, Dardanelle; 6. J. C. England, 
Lonoke ; 7. W. S. Eakin, Perry^dlle ; 8. J. N. Crawford, 
Arkadelphia; 9. T. C. McRae, Prescott; 10. W. T. 
Wells, Monticello; 11. W. P. Grace, Pine Bluff: 12. 
Benjamin T, DuVal, Fort Smith. 

The State Hospitai. for Nervous 
Diseases Opened (1883). 

The Hospital for Nervous Diseases, commonly called 
the Insane Asylum, dates its beginning from April 19, 
1873, when Governor Elisha Baxter approved an act of 
the General Assembly providing for the establishment of 
the "Arkansas State Lunatic Asylum" at Little Rock. 
The act authorized the governor to appoint five trustees, 
who should "manage and direct the affairs of the in- 



Arkansas History 143 

stitution and appoint a superintendent". It carried also 
an appropriation of "not exceeding $50,000" for the 
purchase or erection of the necessary buildings. Owing 
to the unsettled political conditions which led up to and 
followed the Brooks-Baxter war, the first board of trus- 
tees was unable to do more than purchase a site for such 
an institution. In his last message to the General As- 
sembly, Governor Augustus H. Garland urged the im- 
portance of establishing the asylum without delay. Gov- 
ernor William R. Millers, too, discussed the necessity 
for such an institution in his messages of 1877 and 1879. 
The General Assembly of 1879 passed an act appropri- 
ating $40,000 for the establishment of the asylum and 
directing that it be located at Snow Springs, an out-of- 
the-way place, some four or five miles from the city of 
Hot Springs. This bill was vetoed by Governor Miller, 
on the grounds that the appropriation was insufficient 
and the location undesirable. There the matter rested 
until February 8, 1881, when Governor Churchill ap- 
proved an act providing for a levy of a one-mill tax on 
all the property of the state for two years, and the ap- 
propriation of $150,000 "for the purpose of building, 
organizing, furnishing and operating an insane asylum, 
at or near Little Rock". With a portion of the ap- 
propriation immediately available, the trustees went to 
work and the institution was opened on March 1, 1883. 

The First Municipal Waterworks ix Arkansas (1884). 

In 1884 a waterworks company was organized at 
Little Rock; a standpipe was erected near the foot of 
Cross sreet. After passing through several ownerships, 
Zeb Ward acquired a controlling interest in the company. 
In 1886, he began the construction of large reserx^oirs 
on the bluff where the reservoirs of the Arkansaw Water 
Company now are, some two miles up the Arkansas 
from the center of the city, situated on an elevation of 
about two hundred and fifty feet above the business dis- 
trict. Water was turned on May 4, 1888. The supply is 



144 High Lights 

t 

pumped from the Arkansas River into the reservoirs, 

where it is filtered before being turned into the mains. 
In 1889 the plant and franchise were purchased by east- 
ern capitalists, who changed the name to the Home Water 
Company. In 1910 the name was again changed to the 
Arkansaw Water Company. 

The Holford Bonds Repudiated (1884). 

The General Assembly of 1836, which created the 
Real Estate Bank, authorized an issue of two million 
dollars in state bonds in order to provide the bank with 
the necessary capital. In 1838, another issue of $500,000 
in bonds was authorized to raise capital for a fourth 
branch of the Real Estate Bank, which branch was to be 
established at Van Buren. With these latter bonds, the 
directors on September 7, 1840, through their agent, se- 
cured from the North American Trust and Banking 
Company, of New York City, the sum of $121,336.59, by 
depositing the $500,000 in bonds as security for the re- 
payment of the sum advanced. Whereupon, the North 
American Trust and Banking Company sold the bonds 
to James Holford and Company, of London, England, 
for $325,000. Then, presently, the North American 
Trust and Banking Company failed. This brought 
James Holford to New York, where he began steps to 
collect the interest already due him, and to secure him- 
self against loss of the principal he had invested in the 
bonds of the Real Estate Bank. The State of Arkan- 
sas, through Governor Archibald Yell, took the position 
that it owed, on account of these bonds, only the $121,- 
336.59, with accrued interest, which sum the Real Estate 
Bank had received from the North American Trust and 
Banking Company. This position, which Arkansas held 
to until the matter was finally disposed of, was based 
upon the assumption that the Real Estate Bank had only 
hypothecated or mortgaged the bonds, as the directors 
claimed, to the North American Trust and Banking Com- 
pany; that the latter company, if it sold the bonds to 



Arkansas History 145 

Holford, had acted in bad faith; for which the State of 
Arkansas could not be held either legally or morally ac- 
countable. Holford, on the other hand, showed that he 
had, in effect, bought the bonds outright of the North 
American Trust and Banking Company for $325,000. 
He had, he said, been an innocent purchaser; as such, 
he was entitled to collect from the State of Arkansas the 
full amount of the bonds — $500,000 with interest until 
the bonds were paid. Eventually the Holford claim was 
sold to Benjamin D. Whitney, who brought suit in the 
Pulaski Chancery Court against the Real Estate Bank 
for the recovery of the face value of the bonds, with in- 
terest. The court held that the bonds could not have been 
lawfully sold for less than their par value, since the Real 
Estate Bank act declared any such sale illegal and void ; 
but because the bank appropriated to its use the $121,- 
336.59 advanced upon the bonds, ''it is but just to con- 
clude that the bank is bound in equity and good con- 
science to repay the money with interest, upon a rede- 
livery of the bonds". Rather than accept such a settle- 
ment, "Whitney appealed the case to the Supreme Court 
of Arkansas; w^hich court affirmed the decision of the 
chancery court. "When the funding bill was before the 
General Assembly in 1868, the amount of the $121,336.59, 
with accrued interest, was $334,747. Instead of funding 
this sum, which w^ould doubtless have met the approval 
of every honest taxpayer in the state, the authors of the 
funding measure proposed to have the state assume the 
payment of the entire $500,000 in bonds, which, with the 
interest then due, amounted to $1,360,000, or over a mil- 
lion dollars more than the courts had decreed that the 
state justly owed. The proposition to issue new bonds 
for the whole amount met with so much opposition 
that the Holford bonds were held in abeyance for several 
months, though they were finally funded for $1,268,000. 
And at the state election of 1884 the payment of these 
bonds was repudiated by what is known as the ''Fish- 
back Amendment". 



146 High Lights 

Bauxite Discovered (1887). 

The discovery of bauxite deposits in Arkansas was 
made by the late Dr. John C. Branner, then state geolo- 
gist, in June, 1887. He recognized it at several places 
along the road running south from Little Eock, a little 
more than a mile south of where the road crosses the 
Fourche Bayou. Doctor Branner wrote, shortly after 
his discovery, to a reduction works in Pittsburgh, Penn- 
sylvania, calling their attention to the nature and extent 
of the deposits, but failed to interest them. He then made 
a trip to Syracuse, New York, but with no better success. 
The first mention in the report of the commissioner of 
mines, manufactures and agriculture of shipments of 
bauxite was in 1899, when 5,045 tons were shipped. It is 
said, however, that there had been several small ship- 
ments of the ore made before that time. There are three 
well defined fields where the ore has been found, viz : The 
Fourche district, which lies south of the Fourche Bayou 
and between the Rock Island Railroad and the Pine 
Bluff division of the Missouri Pacific; the Bryant dis- 
trict, about eighteen miles southwest of Little Rock, in 
Bryant Township, Saline County; the third is really a 
part of the Bryant district, being separated from it only 
by Hurricane Creek, and is almost due east of Benton. 
The greater portion of the ore comes from the Bryant 
field, and is shipped from the town of Bauxite, situated 
on the Rock Island Railroad. The commissioner of 
mines, manufactures and agriculture, in his report for 
1920, says : '^More than ninety per cent of all the bauxite 
produced in the United States is mined in Pulaski and 
Saline counties and all of the bauxite used in the United 
States in the manufacture of aluminum, in 1919 came 
from the Arkansas deposits. 

The First Electric Lights 

Introduced in Arkansas (1888). 

The first electric lights in Arkansas were installed at 
Little Rock in September, 1888. The end of that year 



Arkansas History 247" 

saw seventy street lights in operation. This included the 
four municipal towers, located at Markham and Pulaski 
streets, Tenth and Bishop streets. Main and Twenty- 
first streets, and Ninth and Rector streets. In tinae the 
towers were discarded and lights installed at nearly 
every street crossing in the central portion of the city, 
and at frequent intervals in the other parts. The plant 
is now operated by the Little Rock Railway and Electric 
Company. 

The Arkansas Conpederate 

Soldiers' Home Established (1890). 

The Arkansas Confederate Soldiers' Home, for the 
care of indigent veterans, of the War of Secession, was 
opened December 1, 1890. The movement which resulted 
in the establishment of the home was started some time 
before by certain weU knoMoi Confederate veterans. For 
the purpose of raising funds by popular subscription, 
and in order to manage the enterprise effectually, they 
organized an association of Confederate veterans. In 
this manner, through the efforts of the association, a 
fund of $8,500 was raised. And during the summer of 
1890 a tract of some sixty acres of ground, about six 
miles southeast of Little Rock, was purchased; an old 
residence on the place was remodeled, and the home 
formally opened December 1, 1890. On April 1, 1891, 
Governor James P. Eagle approved an act authorizing 
the pajTiient of pensions to disabled Confederate soldiers 
and their widows, and for the levying of a tax to raise 
the necessary revenue. The same act also provided: 
''That ten thousand dollars of the fund thus raised shall 
be and is hereby appropriated annually for the erec- 
tion and maintenance of a Confederate Home as is now 
established by the Ex-Confederate Association of Ar- 
kansas, which sum shall be paid on the order of the di- 
rectors of said association. * * * Provided, that no 
inmate of the said Confederate Home shall be entitled 
to draw a pension as provided for in this act ; Provided 



148 High Lights 

further, that no part of the ten thousand dollars here 
as annually appropriated, shall be used until the said 
Ex-Confederate Association of Arkansas shall have 
conveyed to said state the lands belonging to said Ex- 
Confederate Association with a good and sufficient 
title." Thus responsibility for the management and 
maintenance of the home was taken over by the state. 
With the first annual appropriation of $10,000 a new 
building was erected. It was completed in 1892. In the 
summer of 1911 the inmates were moved into tents while 
the entire home was remodeled. 

The State Banker's Association Organized (1891). 

The movement for the organization of a state bank- 
ers' association originated with the bankers of Little 
Rock in the summer of 1891. M. H. Johnson, cashier of 
the Bank of Little Rock, and Oscar Davis, cashier of the 
German National Bank, sent out letters to the banks of 
the state requesting those who favored the organization 
of an association to permit the use of their names in 
the issue of a call for a meeting for that purpose. 
Thirty-nine bankers endorsed the plan in letters and their 
names were signed to a call to meet at the Richelieu 
Hotel, in Little Rock, on October 20, 1891. There were 
then only about eighty banks in the state. Representa- 
tives from a majority of these banks met at the time 
and place designated. W. B. Worthen, president of the 
Associated Banks of Little Rock, called the meeting to 
order and stated its object. The greater part of the 
first day was spent in discussion, and on October 21st 
the Arkansas Bankers Association was formally organ- 
ized by the election of Logan H. Roots, president, and 
M. H. Johnson, secretary. C. T. Walker, of Little Rock ; 
W. H. Gates, of Jonesboro; B. J. Brown, of Fayetteville ; 
H. G. Allis, of Little Rock; and S. H. Horner, of Helena, 
were appointed a committee to draft a constitution and 
by-laws, whereupon, the association adjourned to meet 
on April 26, 1892. Since its organization the association 



Arkansas History 1*9 

has been influential in bringing about better business 
relations between the bankers and business men of the 
state, and in procuring the enactment of laws for the 
general improvement of banking conditions. 

Arkansas at the Columbian Exposition (1893). 

The World's Columbian Exposition, at Chicago in 
1893, held in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the 
discovery of America, surpassed in magnificence all 
previous expositions. The General Assembly of Arkan- 
sas, in the session of 1891, failed to appropriate money 
for any exhibit, but a number of progressive citizens took 
the preliminary steps in December, 1891, to have the 
state properly represented. Wherefore, a joint stock 
company was formed to raise funds for the purpose. 
This company, known as the "Arkansas World's Fair As- 
sociation", raised a sufficient sum of money to erect a 
building at Chicago. It was 66 by 92 feet, two stories 
high. In the center of the rotunda was placed an im- 
itation fountain of Hot Springs crystals which was 
lighted by electricity. A few months before the meeting 
of the General Assembly of 1893, the association offered 
to present to the state the building and the exhibits al- 
ready collected, if the Legislature would make proper 
provisions for the State's representation at the exposi- 
tion. The Legislature accepted the offer and appro- 
priated $15,000 for the purpose of arranging and taking 
care of the exhibits. The Legislature further authorized 
the commisssioner of mines, manufactures and agricul- 
ture to loan the permanent exhibit of the department to 
the would 's fair commissioners, and to co-operate with 
them in the effort to have Arkansas well represented. 
Provision for an educational exhibit were made, which 
was conducted by the superintendent of public instruc- 
tion. Altogether, the exhibits were the greatest ever 
made by the state up to that time. Forty-two awards 
were granted to the educational exhibit; seven for 
apples in the horticultural department ; three for cotton 



150 High Lights 

in the agricultural department, and Arkansas received 
a wide advertisement for the high character of its ex- 
hibit in general. 

The Arkansas Daughters of the 

American Revolution Organized (1893). 

The Daughters of the American Revolution organ- 
ized their first chapter in Arkansas at Little Rock in De- 
cember, 1893, with twelve charter members. Mrs. W. 
A. Cantrell was the first state regent. The first state 
conference was held at the Hotel Marion in Little Rock 
February 22, 1909. At that time there were but four 
chapters in the state. The work of the state conference 
stimulated an interest in the society and during the next 
year eight new chapters were organized. Since then 
there has been a steady Q-rowth of the society in the 
state. All the chapters have contributed liberally to 
the national memorial hall fund. They have aided in the 
establishment of public libraries, the collection and pres- 
ervation of historical memorials, documents, and what 
not. 

Arkansas Bonds Bought by the United States 

FOR THE Smithsonian Institution REPAro (1895). 

When the Real Estate Bank was established, in 
1836, the United States, as trustee of the Smithsonian 
Institution, bought with funds of the institution 500 of 
the bonds, maturing on October 26, 1861, and 38 other 
bonds, maturing on January 1, 1868. And, as trustee 
of the Chicasaw fund, the United States invested 
$90,000 of that fund in Arkansas state bonds. On Jan- 
nary 1, 1874, the balance due on these bonds, principal 
and interest, was funded into 250 new bonds, of $1,000 
each, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent per 
annum. The United States had invested $3,000 of the 
Chickasaw orphan fund in bonds issued by the state for 
the benefit of the Real Estate Bank. These several bond 
purchases, with interest due, were an unsettled claim 



Arkansas Histoey 151 

against Arkansas for nearly sixty years. On the other 
hand, the State of Arkansas had a valid claim against 
the United States for five per cent of the proceeds aris- 
ing from the sale of public lands within the state; for 
certain tracts of swamp, internal improvement and in- 
demnity school lands which had been granted the state 
by acts of Congress, but to which the state had never 
been given a clear title; and for lands patented to the 
state and afterwards sold by the United States, or al- 
lowed to be entered under the general land laws. By an 
act of the General Assembly, approved April 8, 1889, 
the governor was directed to undertake to negotiate 
a settlement of these sundry claims and counter claims. 
In 1893 Governor Fishbank presented claims against the 
United States aggregating $2,161,067.71. And on Au- 
gust 4, 1894, the President approved an act of Congress 
conferring power on the Secretary of the Treasury and 
the Secretary of the Interior to effect an adjustment of 
the differences. A commission, representing the United 
States, was appointed to visit Arkansas and report on 
the value of the lands claimed by the state. The report 
of the commmission, which the United States accepted, 
allowed Arkansas, as owing to it by the United States, 
a total of $1,451,231.61. Governor James P. Clarke, 
acting for the State of Arkansas, agreed to allow, as 
owing by the state to the United States, a total of $1,- 
611,803.61. And upon this basis a compromise was ef- 
fected February 23, 1895. This left a balance of $160,572 
due the United States. To adjust this balance Governor 
Clarke agreed to give to the United States $572 in cash 
within thirty days and 160 bonds for $1,000 each, payable 
on January 1, 1900, with interest at the rate of six per 
cent per annum. The settlement was accepted by the 
General Assembly in a concurrent resolution adopted on 
February 27, 1895. 



152 High Lights 

United Daughtees of the Confederacy (1896). 

The United Daughters of the Confederacy date their 
beginning in Arkansas from a meeting held at Hope in 
March, 1896, when Pat Clebonrne Chapter was organ- 
ized with Mrs. C. A. Forney as president. Before the 
close of the year three other chapters were organized. 
They were: Mary Lee, at Van Bnren; Memorial, at 
Little Rock, and Hot Springs chapter. Li May, 1905, 
the statue, ''The Defense of the Flag", on the capitol 
grounds, was unveiled. The Daughters of the Confed- 
eracy were active in procuring funds for the erection of 
this statue, as well as for the ''Mothers' Monument", 
also located on the capitol grounds. The U. D. C. have 
also been influential in the erection of monuments at 
Fort Smith, Helena, Van Buren and other towns, and 
have rendered substantial aid to the Confederate 
Soldiers' Home. Through the work of the society many 
interesting and valuable relics of the war have been col- 
lected and preserved. 

The Arkansas Federation of Women's 
Clubs Formed (1897). 

In 1897 the State Federation of Women's Clubs was 
formed at Little Eock. Mrs. W. C. Ratcliffe was elected 
the first president. During the early years of the fed- 
eration the principal work of the clubs was of a literary 
character. Then such subjects as art, music, library 
extension, education, home economics, conservation, 
health, and even politics came to be considered, broad- 
ening the scope of club work and adding to their use- 
fulness. For the advancement of local needs and to 
promote greater sociabilit}^ — ^more concert of action — 
the state has been divided by the federation into six dis- 
tricts, each of which bears the name of the principal city 
or town lying within its boundaries, viz : Camden, For- 
rest City, Fort Smith, Harrison, Little Rock and Pine 
Bluff. Each district has a chairman, who keeps in touch 
with the state chairman, and thus the state work is kept 



Arkansas History 153 

before each district, in order that the effort in behalf 
of any movement may be uniform all over the state. 
Annual meetings are held and these are invariably well 
attended. In 1918 the meeting of the National Federa- 
tion of Women's Clubs was held at Hot Springs. This 
was made possible by the united effort of the clubs be- 
longing to the Arkansas Federation. Over 1,200 dele- 
gates attended the national meeting and the women 
returned to their homes with a better opinion of Ar- 
kansas as a state and loud in their praises of Arkansas 
hospitality. 

Arkansas in the Spanish- American War (1898). 

The United States Battleship Maine was blown up 
in Havana Harbor February 15, 1898. As a result of this 
unfortunate affair public sentiment in the United States, 
which was already deeply incensed against Spain be- 
cause of the latter's long-continued tyrannical oppres- 
sion of Cuba, demanded that the United States punisli 
Spain and free Cuba. The public soon became settled 
in the conviction that the Maine had been blown up at 
the instance of Spanish authorities. For such a delib- 
erate outrage nothing less than a declaration of war was 
tolerable. Accordingly, President William McKinley 
sent a message to Congress on April 11, in which he said : 
"In the name of humaity, in the name of civilization, in 
behalf of endangered American interests, which give us 
the right and the duty to speak and to act, the war in 
Cuba must stop". Congress adopted resolutions April 
18, which amounted to a declaration of war, and on April 
23 the President issued his proclamation calling for 125,- 
000 volunteers. War was actually declared by Congress 
on April 25, 1898. And on that very day Governor Dan 
W. Jones received information from Washington that 
Arkansas was epected to furnish, of the 125,000 volun 
teers called for, two regiments of infantry. Since there 
were not two regiments of the Arkansas National Guard 
well enough organized and equipped to be mustered into 



154 High Lights 

service as units, Governor Jones called for volunteers for 
two new regiments. In liis call, the governor said: "Little 
Eock, Arkansas, having been designated as the place of 
rendezvous by the Secre':ary of War of the two regi- 
ments of infantry called from Arkansas to enlist as 
United States volunteers, the place of camp is hereby 
fixed at the corner of College Avenue and Seventeenth 
Street, in said city, and designated as 'Camp Dodge', as 
a tribute of respect to the late Dr. Roderick Dodge, a 
long and honored resident of the State, to whose estate 
the site of the camp belongs, and whose heirs have cour- 
teously donated the use of the same for this purpose." 
The First Arkansas Volunteer Infantry was mustered 
in on May 18th for two years, "unless sooner dis- 
charged", with Elias Chandler as colonel; John M. Dun- 
gan, lieutenant-colonel; Greenfield Quarles and Clem- 
ent R. Schaer, majors. Soon after the regiment was 
mustered in it was ordexed to Camp Thomas, Chicka- 
mauga Park, Georgia, where it remained until late in 
September, when it was ordered to return to Arkansas. 
It was mustered out at Fort Logan H. Roots on October 
25, 1898. The Second Arkansas Volunteer Infantry was 
mustered in May 25, 1898, with the following regimental 
officers: Virgil Y. Cook, colonel; DeRosey C. Cabell, 
lieutenant-colonel; Claude H. Sayle and James J. John- 
son, majors. On the last day of May, 1898, the regiment 
arrived at Camp Thomas, Chickamauga Park, Georgia, 
where it was assigned to the Second Brigade, Second 
Division, Third Army Corps, the First Arkansas having 
arrived three days earlier and been assigned to the First 
Brigade of the same division and corps. On September 
9, 1898, the Second Regiment was ordered to Camp Shipp, 
Anniston, Alabama, where it remained until February 25, 
1899, when it was mustered out. The Spanish-American 
War was formally ended December 10, 1898, by the 
Treaty of Paris. 



Arkansas History 155 

The Colonial Dames of America (1898). 

The Colonial Dames of Arkansas was incorporated 
February 26, 1898. Since that time the Society has been 
influential in preservation of the old state house and 
grounds in their original form, and has placed in the new 
State Capitol a tablet commemorating the planting of the 
first cross on Arkansas soil by De Soto in 1541. The 
society also presented to the Little Rock High School an 
engraving of Martha Washington made from Gilbert 
Stuart's portrait. It has also urged a general observ- 
ance of "Flag Day" each year, and otherwise given en- 
couragement to worthy patriotic undertakings. 

The New State Capitol — Corner Stone Laid (1900). 

Governor Dan. "W. Jones approved April 17, 1899, 
an act of the General Assembly providing for the erec- 
tion of a new state capitol building, on the grounds then 
occupied by the state penitentiar}^, and appropriating 
$1,000,000 for the purpose. The act provided for the 
appointment by the governor of six commissioners — one 
from each congressional district — to be known as the 
** State Capitol Commission." Governor Jones ap- 
pointed J. M. Levesque, of Cross County; Charles Gor- 
don, of Jefferson; A. H. Carrigan, of Hempstead; 
George W. Murphy, of Pulaski; George W. Donagliey, 
of Faulkner, and Robert M. Hancock, of Baxter. This 
board organized May 10, 1899. The architect's plans 
submitted by George R. Mann were selected and the con- 
tract for the construction was awarded to Caldwell & 
Drake, of Columbus, Ohio. A report of this commission 
at tlie close of the year 1900 shows that the foundation 
of the building was completed. Tlie corner-stone was 
laid November 27, 1900, by the Arkansas Grand Lodge 
of Freemr.sons. Governcr Jeff Davis was opposed to the 
location of the new capitol, and during the six years lie 
was in office the work of construction proceeded but 
slowly. Owing to the illness of Governor John S. Little, 
who came into office in January, 1907, not much progress 



156 High Lights 

was made during his term. In the primary campaign of 
1908 George W. Donaghey, a member of the commission, 
made his race for governor on the issue that the imme- 
diate completion of the capitol was of paramount im- 
portance. He was nominated and elected, and as soon as 
he was inaugurated he set to work to carry out his ideas. 
The Arkansas Gazette of December 25, 19io, said: "The 
Capitol Commission's Christmas gift to the State of 
Arkansas this year will be the magnificent new state capi- 
tol, that stands like the Parthenon of old on the eminence 
at the western extremiy of Fifth Street. The writer was 
present when the first spade of dirt was throA\m, ten years 
ago, on which occasion a number of eloquent speeches 
were made commending the great undertaking of the 
state. * * * Those ten years have marked a strange 
ebb and flow of politics in this state, at which time the 
building has stood like an endangered ship in the storm, 
but where the first spade of dirt was thrown ten years 
ago stands the creation that was then but a castle in the 
air. It cost more than was anticipated, in money, time, 
trouble and hard feeling, but it is now an accomplished 
fact, and there should be no more state capitol sentiment 
in Arkansas history for some years to come. * * * Many 
men have worked for the completion of the new state 
capitol building, but among those who have labored in- 
telligently, none has devoted more time and trouble to 
the enterprise than his excellency, Governor George W. 
Donaghey, a practical builder and a man of the people. 
No man in Arkansas could have been better fitted for the 
position he was called to assume than Governor Dona- 
ghey, for while any strong, intellectual man might hope 
to fulfil the duties of governor of this state. Governor 
Donaghey was a renowned contractor as well, and the 
desire to give the people of Arkansas a new state capitol 
that would stand the ravages of time lay next to his heart. 
He will be he first governor to establish office in the new 
building. ' ' 



Arkansas History 157 

The Apple Blossom Made the State Flower (1901). 

The General Assembly by ''Senate Concurrent Reso- 
lution No. 1", passed January 30, 1901, adopted the 
Apple Blossom as the state flower. The resolution is as 
follows : 

Whereas, Most of the states have by resolution de- 
clared what should be their state floral emblem; and 

Whereas, Arkansas has not by resolution of the Gen- 
eral Assembly declared what is her floral emblem; be it 
therefore 

Resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, 
that the "Apple Blossom" be declared the state floral 
emblem of Arkansas. 

Natural Gas Discovered (1901). 

There are two kno^vn natural gas fields in Arkan- 
sas — one in the nortliwestern part, embracing Crawford, 
Scott and Sebastian counties, and the other in Union 
County and probably some of the adjoining counties. 
The first gas well in the state was drilled on the Massard 
Prairie, south of Fort Smith, in 1901. Subsequent tests 
have demonstrated that the northwestern field exends 
from the vicinity of Alma, Crawford County, to Poteau, 
Oklahoma. The daily production of gas in this field, from 
wells in operation in 1919, was 200,000,000 cubic feet. 
One well has a daily record of 24,000,000 cubic feet and 
is one of the largest in the Southwest. Pipe lines have 
been laid to the nearby cities and thousands of homes are 
supplied wdth fuel for cooking and heating purposes. 
The public utilities of Fort Smith and Van Buren, as well 
as the coal mines in the vicinity, are operated with power 
generated by natural gas, and a num'ber of manufactur- 
ing concerns have availed themselves of the cheap fuel. 
In the southern field, gas was discovered near El Dorado 
late in the year 1920 by the Constantine Refining Com- 
pany, who were prospecting for oil. The initial flow at 



158 High Lights 

this well was heavy enough to warrant the belief that a 
gas field could be developed, which would equal that in 
the northwestern part of the state. Up to July, 1921, five 
other gas wells had been found in this field. The gas has 
been piped to El Dorado, where it is used for domestic 
and manufacturing purposes. 

The Arkansas Historical Association Formed (1903). 

During the winter and spring of 1903, Dr. John Hugh 
Reynolds, then professor of history in the Universitj^ of 
Arkansas, gave some lectures on Arkansas history to the 
literary societies of the University. This led to the or- 
ganization in June, 1903, of the Arkansas Historical So- 
ciety, at Fayetteville, by the students of the University. 
During the summer circulars were distributed and a few 
of the students made some historical research in their 
respective counties. On December 18, 1903, the society 
was reorganized on a broader basis, with James K. Jones, 
president; John H. Rejmolds, secretary; R. J. Wilson, 
treasurer. A change in the name was also made, the word 
"association" being substituted for ''society." The 
constitution adopted declared the objects of the Associa- 
tion to be: ''1. To prepare an inventory of all source 
material for the history of Arkansas. 2. To collect said 
material, either at the University or the state capital. 3. 
To encourage, by issuing publications, the study and the 
writing of all phases of the state's history." As secre- 
tary of the association. Dr. Reynolds worked indus- 
triously to carry out the aims as stated in the constitu- 
tion. Not\vithstanding his persistent efforts and the 
friendly support of the newspapers, the membership of 
the Association did not grow as liad been anticipated, and 
the organization was without sufficient funds to publish 
the results of its research. In this emergency it was de- 
cided to appeal to the General Assembly. Accordingly, 
an act was passed at the session of 1905, the provisions 
of which were as follows : The president of the Associa- 
tion was authorized to appoint five persons from the ac- 



Arkansas History 159 

live membersliip of the Historical Association, to consti- 
tute a cominission, with the duty to supervise and direct 
the printing of the first vohime of the publications of the 
Association, and to ascertain the location and state of 
preservation of all extant sources of information con- 
cerning the history of Arkansas. Under the provisions 
of this act, the Arkansas Historical Association published 
its first volume of reports. The act of 1905 was tern 
porary in character and provided for the publication of 
but one volume. But on May 28, 1907, the governor ap- 
poved another act continuing the work of the Association 
and appropriating $1,600 to aid in printing a second vol- 
ume of publications. A second volume was accordingly 
published in 1908. Volumes three and four have since 
been published. 

Arkansas at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904). 

To commemorate the centenary of the Louisiana 
Purchase, an industrial exposition on a gigantic scale was 
planned for St. Louis in 1904. The General Assembly of 
Arkansas appropriated in 1901 $30,000 for an exhibit of 
the state's products and resources. An appropriate 
building was erected upon the exposition grounds and the 
work of gathering materials for a display that would out- 
rival all previous etforts was commenced. The Legisla- 
ture of 1903 made an additional appropriation of $50,000, 
making a total of $80,000, a sum sufficient to place Ar- 
kansas on a footing equal to that of the other states. The 
superintendent of public instruction collected specimens 
of class work done in the public schools, photographs of a 
large number of school buildings, etc., and the agricul- 
tural, mineral and manufactured products of the state 
received many flattering comments from the visitors to 
the exposition. September 22, 1904, was Arkansas Day. 
As in previous competitive exhibitions, Arkansas cotton, 
fruits and mineral display were awarded prizes for their 
excellence. 



160 High Lights 

The Boys Industrial School Established '(1905). 

On April 25, Governor Davis approved an act pro- 
viding for the establisliment of a " State Reform School, 
for the dscipline, education, employment and reforma- 
tion of convicts under the age of eighteen years". The 
act also provided that white and colored inmates should 
be kept in separate quarters, and that the female con- 
victs should be kept to themselves. As thus established, 
the institution was for both sexes and was placed under 
the management of the penitentiary board. An ap- 
propriation of $30,000 was made for the purchase of a site 
and the erection of buildings. A site a few miles west of 
Little Rock was purchased, a three-story brick building 
erected, and the school was opened in the fall of 1906. 
''The Arkansas Gazette" of August 23, 1908, said: "The 
Reform School is located about four miles from the end 
of the Highland Park car line. It consists of about two 
hundred acres of land, which is said to be of about as 
poor a variety as can be found in Arkansas. That such 
an institution was located on such unfertile ground is 
deplored by nearly everyone who visits the institution 
and who can imagine what could be done by such a school 
of boys upon rich soil". In 1915 the probation officers 
of Jefferson and Pulaski counties prepared a bill for the 
removal of the school to a good farm. This bill was 
approved by the County Judges Association and the 
State Federation of Labor. It was passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly, but was vetoed by Governor Geo. W. 
Hays on the grounds of economy. At the next session of 
the General Assembly, a similar bill was passed and was 
approved by Governor Charles H. Brough. Up to this 
time the institution had been under the control of the 
penitentiary board and was regarded as a penal in- 
stitution. The act of 1917 changed the name to the 
''Boys Industrial School of the State of Arkansas" and 
provided for a board of managers, composed of three 
men and two women. 



Arkansas History 161 

The United States Daughters of 1812 (1905). 

In the latter part of 1905 Mrs. Herman Wilmans, of 
Newport, was appointed organizing president of Arkan- 
sas by the president of the national society of the 
Daughters of 1812. Mrs. Wilmans drew up the state by- 
laws, Avhich were approved by the national executive 
board, and the Arkansas State Society w^as formally 
organized with eight charter members. Nicholas Head- 
ington Chapter — the iirst in the state — was organized at 
Little Eock October 24, 1908; John Craig Dodds Chap- 
ter, Batesville, March 25, 1910; Simon Bradford Chap- 
ter, Pine Bluff, September 19, 1911, and Chalmette Chap- 
ter, Texarkana, November 20, 1913. On March 28, 1914, 
the first state council met in Little Eock. At that time 
there were 103 members in the state, ninety of wdiom were 
present at the meeting. 

Diamonds Discovered in Arkansas (1906). 

On August 1, 1906, John W. Huddleson picked up on 
his farm, near the mouth of Prairie Creek and about two 
and a half miles southeast of Murfreesboro, Pike County, 
two glittering pebbles. These he sent to Charles S. 
Stiflft, founder of the firm of Charles S. Stifft & Com- 
pany, Jewelers, of Little Eock, who pronounced them 
genuine diamonds. The stones were later sent to New 
York, where they were examined by experts and cut and 
polished by the well known firm of Tiffany & Company. 
In the rough, these first two diamonds weighed about 
three carats each. A company was shortly formed to 
prospect for diamonds and John T. Fuller, a mining 
engineer, who had been connected with the De Beers 
Company, of South Africa, was employed to examine the 
Pike County field and report. Mr. Fuller said in his re- 
port that "the diamond-bearing rock occurs in South 
Africa in what is there locally known as a 'pipe', which 
is the neck, or vent, of an old volcano, filled up solid with 
diamond-bearing rock. This rock is technically know as 
peridotite, a rock of bluish green color, and known in 



162 High Lights 

Africa as Kimberlite, or more popularly as blue ground. 
That the diamond-bearing rock found on your property 
in Pike county is peridotite is unquestioned. That it oc- 
curs on the property in a 'pipe' similar to its occur- 
rences in South Africa has been, to my mind, sufficiently 
demonstrated". In 1908 the Arkansas Diamond Com- 
pany was organized with an authorized capital stock of 
$1,000,000 for the thorough development of the diamond 
field. A modern reduction plant was erected and up to 
1920 over five thousand diamonds had been taken from 
the small area covered by the peridotite formation. The 
largest of these diamonds weighed eighteen carats and 
another weighed eleven carats. There are four small 
areas of the peridotite and the Kimberlite Diamond 
Company is also operating in the field. 

An Arkansan Appointed Ambassador to the Hague 
Peace Conference (1907). 

President Theodore Roosevelt paid a visit to Little 
Rock and Arkansas in 1905. At Little Rock, in the City 
Park, he addressed an audience of several thousand peo- 
ple on October 25. A luncheon was given in his honor 
at the Scottish Rite Consistory. On the latter occasion, 
the late Judge LT. M. Rose responded to the toast ''The 
President of the United States." When, in 1907, it fell 
to the lot of Mr. Roosevelt to choose an ambassador to 
represent the United States at the second Hague Peace 
Conference, he appointed Judge Rose a member of the 
commission. Li a "Memoir" of his father, George B. 
Rose says: "Early in 1907 [October, 1905] Mr. Roose- 
velt, then president of the United States, passed through 
Little Rock. At a luncheon given to him Judge Rose re- 
sponded to a toast in his honor. This made so favorable 
an impression upon Mr. Roosevelt that he appointed 
Judge Rose an ambassador to the Hague Peace Confer- 
ence of that year, along with Mr, Jos. H. Choate and 
General Horace Porter. From the day of his appoint- 
ment Judge Rose devoted his whole time to the study of 



Arkansas History 163 

international law, so that when the conference assembled 
he was far better eqnipped than most of the delegates. 
Added to this was his perfect mastery of the French 
language; and these, with the charm of manner that 
made him a natural diplomat, gave him a conspicuous 
position in that distinguished gathering." 

The Arkansas History Commission Established (1909). 

The Arkansas Historical Association was instru- 
mental in effecting the establishment of the Arkansas 
History Commission, as a permanent state department of 
public arcliives and history. The Association, in a re- 
port made to the governor on September 1, 1908, recom- 
mended that an expert archivist be employed to superin- 
tend the removal of the records and papers from the old 
capitol to the new; that in the place of the speciar com- 
mission, as representing the Association, a Commission 
to be a permanent department of the state be created. 
The report emphasized the fact that, owing to the prob- 
able removal of the state government shortly to the new 
state capitol, *^ A failure to provide for the permanent or- 
ganization of state historical work at the next session of 
the General Assembly would probably mean that Ar- 
kansas history would sustain a greater loss in the next 
two years than it has in any other quarter of a century." 
Under th^ leadership of Dr. John Hugh Reynolds, the 
Association followed up its recommendations to the gov- 
ernor with a systematic campaign of agitation to shape 
public opinion favorable to the establishment of a perma- 
nent state department of history and archives. Thus the 
act' creating the Arkansas History Commission was 
passed and approved by Governor Geo. W. Donaghey 
May 31, 1909. The said act provided: 1. That the 
headquarters of the Commission should be in the new 
state capitol. 2. That the said Commission should be 
an honorary board of trustees composed of the chief jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court, the presidents of the Univer- 
sity of Arkansas and the State Normal School, and six 



164 High Lights 

other persons appointed by the governor. 3. That at 
the first meeting of the Commission the six appointive 
members should by lot divide themselves into six classes, 
whose terms of service should be two, four, six, eight, ten 
and twelve years, respectively, after which the term of 
such appointees should be twelve years. 4. That a sec- 
retary^ be employed, as director of the department, at a 
salary of $1,800 per year, whose duty it should be to 
carry out the provisions of the act, under the rules and 
regulations laid down by the Commission. 5. That all 
books, pamphlets, documents, etc., collected by the Com- 
mission should forever remain the property of the state. 
The board of commissioners, as at first constituted, was 
composed of E. A. McCulloch, chief justice; John N. 
Tillman, president of the University of Arkansas; J. J. 
Doyne, president of the State Normal School ; A. C. Mil- 
lar, of Little Rock; James H. Berry, of Bentonville; H. 
B. McKenzie, of Prescott ; J. F. Mayes, of Fort Smith ; 
Miss Clara B. Eno, of Van Buren, and J. H. Reynolds, of 
Fayetteville. A bill making an appropriation for the 
secretary's salary was passed by the General Assembly 
of 1911, but it was vetoed by the governor. At a meet- 
ing of the board on August 24, 1911, the following pre- 
amble and resolution were unanimously adopted : 

"Whereas, the recent veto of the salary item of the 
secretary of the Arkansas History Commission renders 
the payment of said salary impossible until another ap- 
propriation is made ; and 

"Whereas, Dallas T. Herndon, of Georgia, a man 
well qualified for the secretaryship, has agreed to ac- 
cept the office, trusting to the good faith of the next leg- 
islature to reimburse him, on condition that the Commis- 
sion on its part, while assuming no financial liability, 
agree to recommend to the next General Assembly an 
appropriation to cover said salary: 

"Therefore, be it resolved, that the Arkansas His- 
tory Commission hereby elect Dallas Tabor Herndon 
secretary on the conditions named above." 



Arkansas History 165 

Of the work accomplished in the upbuilding of the 
department since 1911, The Arkansas Gazette in its Cen- 
tennial Edition of November 20, 1919, says : ' ' Mr. Hern- 
don has collected hundreds of volumes of old newspaper 
files and quantities of historical documents, including 
thousands of old letters and papers that belonged to men 
who have been prominent in the state's affairs. He has 
also made bibliograpliies of all written history of the 
state, has compiled information concerning many thou- 
sands of persons who have lived in Arkansas and had a 
part in its history, and has made rosters of the soldiers 
from Arkansas in the Mexican War and the Civil War, 
besides building up a museum of Arkansas history. In 
general, he has devoted himself to organizing the state's 
historical sources into a system of public archives. The 
state owes to his faithful labors the gratifying progress 
that has been made in the work of preserving its event- 
ful history." 

The Tuberculosis Sanitarium Founded (1909). 

This institution was created by an act of the General 
Assembly approved May 31, 1909. An appropriation of 
$50,000 for a site and buildings and $30,000 for main- 
tenance during the ensuing two years was made. Con- 
trol of the sanitarium was placed in the hands of a board 
of trustees, to consist of six persons appointed by the 
governor, two of whom were to be practicing physicians. 
A site was selected on a ridge in the foothills of the Mag- 
azine Mountains, about four and a half miles southeast 
of Booneville, at an elevation of about one thousand feet 
above sea level. The General Assembly has been con- 
sistently liberal in its biennial appropriations of funds 
for the maintenance of the institution. 

The Arkansas State Flag Adopted (1913). 

Governor Joe T. Robinson approved February 26, 
1913, "Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 11", adopting 
an oflBcial state flag. The movement for a state flag be- 



166 High Lights 

gan early in the year 1912, when the Pine Bluff Chapter, 
Daughters of the American Revolution, voted to present 
the new Battleship Arkansas with a stand of colors, con- 
sisting of a United States flag, a naval battalion flag and 
an Arkansas state flag. The regent of the chapter ap- 
pointed a committee to obtain a copy of the state's offi- 
cial flag. This committee wrote to the secretary of state, 
who replied that Arkansas had no official flag. The com- 
mittee then prepared and published in the leading news- 
papers of the state an article asking artists and design- 
ers — especially those living in Arkansas — to submit de- 
signs for a state flag to a committee which would select 
the one deemed most appropriate. All designs were to 
be sent to the secretary of state, who was authorized to 
name the committee of selection. The first committee met 
at the Hotel Marion, in Little Rock, early in January, 
1913, but failed to select a design. A second committee, 
from sixty-five designs submitted, selected the one made 
by Miss Willie K. Hocker, of Pine Blutf. The flag is a 
rectangular field of red, on which is placed a large white 
diamond, bordered by a wide band of blue — national col- 
ors. Across the diamond is the word 'Arkansas' and 
three blue stars, one above, two below the word. On 
the blue band are placed twenty-five stars. The design- 
er's explanation of the reasons for the design shows that 
it was meant to typify a number of important events in 
Arkansas history. The national colors were used be- 
cause Arkansas is one of the United States. The three 
blue stars upon the w^hite diamond represent the three 
nations — France, Spain and the United States — which 
have successively exercised dominion over Arkansas; 
• they also indicate that Arkansas was the third state to 
be erected in the territory acquired by the Louisiana 
Purchase. The twenty-five stars in the blue band show 
that Arkansas was the twenty-fifth state in the order of 
admission into the Union. It came into the Union with 
Michigan, which fact is shown by the two stars close to- 
gether at the lower angle of the band. The diamond 



Arkansas History 167 

was selected because Arkansas has the only known dia- 
mond bearing deposits in the United States. 

Arkansas at the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915). 

In the summer of 1915 the Panama-Pacific Exposi- 
tion was held in San Francisco to celebrate the comple- 
tion of the Panama Canal. The General Assembly of 
Arkansas in 1913 failed to make an appropriation for a 
state exhibit, and to wait until the next meeting of the 
legislature, which fell in 1915, would be too late to make 
the necessary preparations. Governor Geo. W. Hays 
called a meeting of citizens in Little Rock for February 
12, 1914, in order to take the necessary steps for having 
Arkansas suitably represented. That meeting was unan- 
imous in its sentiment that a fund must be raised and 
a collection of the state 's natural and artificial resources 
should be sent to San Francisco. The history of the Ar- 
kansas exhibit can not, perhaps, be better told than in 
the words of Governor Chas. H. Brough's message to the 
legislature of 1921 : 

''Early in 1914 many of the representative citizens 
of our state met in Little Rock and requested Gov. Geo. 
W. Hays to use his efforts to see that Arkansas was rep- 
resented at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. Many vol- 
unteered large contributions and it was thought that the 
whole plan could be carried out without calling on the 
state for an appropriation. However, the industrial de- 
pression from which the entire country suffered in the 
summer of 1914, as a result of the declaration of the 
world's war, was such that private subscriptions could 
not be relied on to finance an Arkansas exhibit. There- 
upon, the commission appointed by the governor wrote 
to all the representatives and senators elected to the 
1915 General Assembly, asking them whether they would 
agree to support an appropriation of $40,000 for the pur- 
pose of exhibiting the resources of our state at San Fran- 
cisco. Favorable replies were received from ninety sen 
ators and representatives, stating that they would sup 



168 High Lights 

port the bill to appropriate $40,000 for that purpose. 
Upon receipt of what was thought to be the necessary 
number of pledges, Governor Hays requested some rep- 
resentative citizens to lend their credit, in the shape of 
a note of $500 each, payable March 1, 1915. * * * • 
The bill appropriating the $40,000 was passed by a two- 
thirds majority of the senate of the General Assembly 
of 1915 and only lacked one vote of having a two-thirds 
majority in the house. The appropriation was contested 
on the ground that it would require a two-thirds majority 
of each house, and our Supreme Court held that because 
the bill lacked one vote of the necessary two-thirds in the 
house, it had failed to become a law. 

**I presented this matter to the General Assembly 
of 1917 and it received the necessary two-thirds majority 
in the senate, but failed again in the house. The ques- 
tion was again brought to the attention of the General 
Assembly of 1919, passed the Senate by a vote of 28 to 0, 
and received more than two-thirds majority of those 
present and voting in the house, but not a two-thirds 
majority of the entire membership. The Supreme Court 
sustained the opinion of the attorney-general that an ex- 
traordinary appropriation of this character required a 
two-thirds membership vote of each house and the citi- 
zens of our state, w^ho acted from such patriotic motives 
in 1915, will lose $24,194 which was advanced for the 
honor of our state, unless legislative relief is given." 

With the funds raised by private subscription and 
the notes given by citizens, a capacious building was 
erected at San Francisco, and a representative collec- 
tion of Arkansas products was in position when the ex- 
position opened. The General Assembly of 1921 failed 
to make an appropriation to pay the $24,194 mentioned 
by Governor Brough, and it is quite probable that the 
whole subject will be presented to future legislatures. 



Arkansas History 169 

An Arkansas Song Officially Adopted (1917). 

The General Assembly, by ' ' Senate Concurrent Res- 
olution No. 6," adopted, January 12, 1917, the song "Ar- 
kansas" as the official state song. The resolution is as 
follows : 

Whereas, Arkansas has never adopted officially a 
State Song, and 

Whereas, "Arkansas" is recognized by almost all 
the schools of the state as the State Song, 

Therefore, Be it resolved by the Senate, the House 
concurring therein, that the song "Arkansas" by Mrs. 
Eva Ware Barnett be adopted as the State Song. 

Arkansas in the World War (1917-1918). 

The United States, by joint resolution of Congress, 
made a formal declaration of war against Germany April 
6, 1917. One of the first official acts on the part of Ar- 
kansas in support of the war was that performed by 
Governor Charles H. Brough, agreeable to the request 
of President Woodrow Wilson, in the appointment of a 
state council of defense, to cooperate with the National 
Council of Defense and the National Government in the 
prosecution of the war. The work of the state council 
embraced the organization of a campaign of education 
for the directing of public opinion; the providing of 
chairmen for the food, fuel and employment administra- 
tions ; the organization of the several Liberty Loan cam- 
paigns. To raise a national army, instead of relying 
upon the traditional plan of recruiting an army by mus- 
tering volunteers. Congress passed the Selective Service 
Law, which became effective May 19, 1917. On registra- 
tion day, June 5, 1917, of the thousands subject to reg- 
istration in Arkansas, there were but 600 in all the state, 
of a total of 149,627 men subject to draft as being be- 
tween the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one years, who 
failed to register. Later, under the supplementary act 



170 High Lights 

of Congress of August 31, 1918, extending the draft to 
include those between the ages of eighteen and forty-five 
years, there were registered in Arkansas a total of 
199,857. Of these, 51,858 were actually inducted into 
service. Besides, Arkansas furnished its National Guard 
of three regiments. The latter were trained at Camp 
Beauregard, Louisiana, where they were mustered into 
the service of the United States. The First Arkansas 
Infantry (National Guard) became the One Hundred 
and Fifty-third regiment in the National Army; the Sec- 
ond Lifantry became the One Hundred and Forty-second 
Field Artillery ; and the Third Infantry formed the basis 
of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Infantry and the 
One Hundred and Forty-first Machine Gun Battalion. 
All were attached to the Thirty-ninth Division. The first 
unit of the division arrived in France on August 12, 1918, 
and the last on September 12, 1918. As soon as it became 
known that the war department intended to establish a 
number of training camps, or cantonments, the Board of 
Commerce of Little Rock took the necessary steps to se- 
cure the location of one of the cantonments near the city. 
The Army Post Development Company was organized 
with a capital stock of $300,000; which company, com- 
posed of the leading business men of Little Rock and 
North Little Rock, bought and consolidated a number of 
small farms and offered the Government 3,000 acres of 
land in fee simple for the cantonment. In addition to 
this, indeterminate leases on 10,000 acres adjoining were 
obtained and turned over to the Government. On June 
11, 1917, the war department announced that Little Rock 
had been selected as one of the sites for training camps, 
and that $3,500,000 had been appropriated for the con- 
struction of the necessary buildings, etc. On June 23, 
the contract was awarded to James Stewart & Company, 
of New York and St. Louis. Maj. John R. Fordyce was 
selected to superintend the work as construction quarter- 
master. The cantonment was named Camp Pike, for 
Brig.-Gen. Zebulon M. Pike, who, as a lieutenant in the 
regular army, explored the Mississippi River to its 



Arkansas History 171 

source soon after, the Louisiana Purchase, and later led 
an expedition into the Southwest, discovering and nam- 
ing Pike 's Peak in Colorado. It was at Camp Pike that 
the Eighty-Seventh division, composed of drafted men 
from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi was 
organized and trained. Accepting the offer of the peo- 
ple of Lonoke to furnish a tract of 960 acres, rent free, 
the Government in November, 1917, began the establish- 
ment of an Aviation Field near that town. Following 
the custom of the war department of naming aviation 
schools or camps for flyers killed in service, the Lonoke 
camp was named for Capt. Melchior M. Eberts, who was 
killed while making an exhibition flight at Columbus, 
New Mexico, on May 8, 1917. Twenty-three young men 
of Arkansas were among the first to enter this aviation 
school to prepare themselves for the air service abroad, 
but the armistice was signed before any of them were 
actually inducted into service. In addition to the avia- 
tion field at Lonoke, the Government expended about one 
million dollars on an aviation warehouse and the devel- 
opment of the picric acid plant at Little Rock, though 
neither was completed in time to be of service before the 
armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. The follow- 
ing table, shows the whole number of men furnished by 
Arkansas for acutal service: 

In the United States army 66,437 

In the navy and marine corps 5,359 

In the coast guard 66 

Of these, there were killed in action, 292; died of 
wounds, 112; wounded in line of duty, 1,751; died of 
disease, 417; accidental deaths, 16; committed suicide, 
1; drowned, 2; murdered, 3; died from other known 
causes, 8; cause of death undetermined, 27; captured, 24; 
missing (presumed to be dead), 7. The total casualties 
sustained was 2,660. This total, however, does not in- 
clude those who died in camps in the United States. 



172 High Lights 

A New Constitution Framed (1918). 

Agreeable to an act of the General Assembly of 1917, 
an election was held on Tuesday, June 26, 1917, for the 
choosing of delegates to a constitutional convention. The 
representation in the convention was so fixed by the act 
calling it as to give each county the same number of del- 
egates that it had members in the lower house of the As- 
sembly besides these each congressional district was 
given two delegates at large. The convention met on 
November 19, 1917, the time fixed by the convention act 
of the General Assembly, and organized by electing T. 
M. Mehaffy president. Committees were appointed to 
draft the various articles of a new constitution and the 
convention adjourned to meet the following July. At 
that time — July, 1918 — the work of combining the reports 
of the committees occupied but a comparatively short 
time and the new constitution was ordered to be sub- 
mitted to the people at a special election on December 
14, 1918. Persons versed in the science of civil govern- 
ment regarded the new constitution as being far more 
modern, more liberal and more democratic than the con- 
stitution of 1874, but the voters, it seems, took a differ- 
ent view. At the election there were but 23,782 votes cast 
in favor of its adoption, with 38,897 cast against it. 

The Girls' Industrial School Opened (1919). 

The act of the General Assembly of 1917, which pro- 
vided for the removal of the Boys' Industrial School to 
a more suitable site, carried also an appropriation of 
$9,000 for a Girls' Industrial School— $3,000 for the sal- 
aries of teachers, $5,000 for maintenance, and $1,000 for 
buildings. The building allowance was purposely made 
small, as it was intended that the old buildings of the 
State Reform School should be occupied. The governor 
was authorized to appoint a board of managers, con- 
sisting of three women and two men. Circumstances 
were such as to render it impracticable to use the build- 
ings of the old Reform School, and, in 1918, a campaign 



Arkansas History 173 

was started to raise $100,000 ''for a Girls' Industrial 
School and Women's Reformatory." Tlie full amount 
was subscribed and $55,000 was realized in actual cash. 
Congressman T. H. Caraway obtained an appropriation 
of $50,000 from the United States Government. In Jan- 
uary, 1919, an ideal location of 200 acres in Saline county, 
only nineteen miles from Little Rock, was purchased and 
the school was opened in the little dwelling already on 
the place. 

The Arkansas State Farm for Women 
Established (1919). 

Governor Charles H. Brough approved March 28, 
1919, an act of the General Assembly providing for the 
establishment of a state reformatory for women, to be 
known as the ' ' Arkansas State Farm for Women. ' ' The 
act provided for the appointment by the governor of nine 
directors, five of whom should be women. These direc- 
tors were authorized to purchase a fai*m of not less than 
120 acres to * ' include woodland and tillable pasture, with 
a natural water supply, and be located reasonably near 
some railroad". The act appropriated $5,500 for sal- 
aries and $4,500 for maintenance. The directors ac- 
quired 185 acres about two and a half miles from Jack- 
sonville, in the northeastern part of Pulaski County, the 
location being convenient to the main line of the Mis- 
souri Pacific Railroad. The purchase was made in 1919, 
though the institution was not opened until early in the 
year 1920. 

Oil Discovered in Arkansas (1920). 

The first production of oil in commercial quantities 
in Arkansas came from what is known as the ** Hunter 
Discovery Well", near Stephens, Ouachita County, late 
in the year 1920. This well, with leases on several thou- 
sand acres of land, was promptly taken over by the 
Standard Oil Company. The second oil well was drilled 
by the White Oil Corporation about eight miles south- 



174 High Lights 

west of El Dorado. It ''came in" on December 23, 1920, 
with a daily flow of twenty-five barrels. But the Arkan- 
sas oil boom really had its beginning with the completion 
of the Mitchell & Busey well, which ' ' came in " on Janu- 
ary 10, 1921, with a daily production estimated at ten 
thousand barrels. Arkansas first appeared in the reports 
of the United States Geological Survey as an oil produc- 
ing state in March, 1921, with 10,000 barrels as the 
monthly output. On July 1, 1921, Arkansas stood sev- 
enth in the list of the oil producing states, being exceeded 
only by California, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas 
and Wyoming. 



INDEX 



Arkansas, first American child born in 12 

Attached to Territory of Indiana 16 

Made part of Territory of Louisiana 17 

And Missouri Compromise 34 

Admission to the Union planned 59 

Convention to frame state constitution 62 

Twenty-fifth state admitted to the Union 67 

Furnished block of marble for Washington monument 92 

Secession of 101 

Admitted to the Confederacy 103 

Confederate State Government surrendered 116 

Confederate women of 118 

Confederate Generals of 117 

State debt funded 124 

University established 126 

Spanish-American War 153 

State flag 165 

State song 169 

World War 169 

Arkansas county, created 25 

Arkansas, District of, formed 18 

Civil government organized in 18 

Arkansas Post, permanent settlement and growth 10 

As it was in 1765 11 

Founder of St. Louis one of first merchants at 11 

Post office at 24 

Arkansas, Territory of, how it got its name 25 

Created 27 

Origin and pronunciation of 25 

Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs, formed 152 

"Arkansas Traveler", how it originated 82 

Banks, the Real Estate, history 71 

The State, history 73 

Holford Bonds repudiated I44 

Banker's Association organized i4g 

Bank bonds bought by United States paid 150 



I N D E X— Continued 

Baptists, built first church house 43 

Bar Association, organized 141 

Barraqua, Antoine, and removal of Quapaws 42 

Battles, Oak Hill, 103; Elk Horn, first in Arkansas, 104; Prairie 
Grove, 107; Arkansas Post, 108; Helena 109; Capture of 
Little Rock, 110; Poison Spring, 114; Marks' Mill, 115; 
Jenkins' Ferry, 115; Price Raid, 115. 

Bauxite, discovered 146 

Blind School, school for blind established 98 

Bounty lands, soldiers of 1812 21 

Bowie knife, history of 54 

Boy's Industrial school, established 160 

Brooks-Baxter War, history of 129 

Catholic Church, granted land at Arkansas Post 9 

Diocese of Little Rock established 85 

Claiborne, Win. C. C, first American Governor of Louisiana 14 

Coal, first mined 81 

College, first on Arkansas soil 61 

Colonial Dames, organized 155 

Confederacy, Arkansas Troops transferred to 104 

Surrender of State Government 116 

General officers furnished by Arkansas 117 

Arkansas women in 118 

Soldier's home 147 

Confederate Soldier's Home, established 147 

Constitutional Convention, first move to frame constitution 62 

Delegates to first 65 

First convention met in Little Rock 66 

Constitution of 1836 re-established 112 

Constitution of 1868 120 

Constitution of 1874 133 

Constitution of 1918 172 

Conway, James S., inaugurated first Governor 71 

Crockett, David, in Little Rock 65 

Daughters of 1812, the United States, organized 161 

D. A. R., organized 150 

Davidsonville, first post office ; 24 

Deaf Mute In?titute, established 121 



I N D E X— Continued 

De Soto, Hernando, first explorer 5 

Diamonds, discovered 161 

Dodd, David O., executed as a spy 112 

Duels, first in Arkansas 35 

The Crittenden-Conviray duel 48 

Last in Arkansas 110 

Dwight Mission founded 36 

Earthquake, the New Madrid 19 

Elections, first general 29 

First state 69 

Electric lights, first in state 146 

Episcopalians, Arkansas a mission of the Episcopal church 76 

Expositions, Centennial, 1876 135 

Columbian, 1893 - 149 

Louisiana Purchase, 1904 159 

Panama-Pacific, 1915 167 

Farm for Women, established 173 

Ferries, first ferry boat 75 

Flag, State adopted 165 

Fort Roots, established 69 

Fort Smith, early history; incorporated 84 

France, ceded Louisiana to Spain 10 

Acquired Louisiana of Spain 13 

Sold Louisiana to United States 13 

Gas, natural, discovered 157 

Gazette, the Arkansas, first newspaper 28 

General Assembly, first 30 

First State 70 

Geological survey, first 97 

Girls' Industrial school, opened , 172 

Grant, U. S., first Ex-President to visit state 139 

Helena, first settlement on site of 13 

Had first saw mill in Territory 44 

History Commisssion, established 163 

Historical Association, formed 158 

Holford bonds, repudiated 144 

Horticulture, Society of formed 137 



I X D E X— Continued 

Hot Springs, visited by De Soto 6 

Land titles; first bath house; made reservation 55 

Capital removed to 106 

Made National Park 136 

Indians, Cherokee, lands ceded to in Arkansas 24 

Osage treaty 18 

First Quapaw Treaty 24 

Cession to Choctaws, 1820 37 

Quapaws ceded all their lands 41 

Insane Asylum, established 142 

Joliet, Louis, discovered Indian village "Arkansae" 6 

Knights of Pythias, first lodge 128 

Ku Klux Klan 128 

Lady Baxter, history of 183 

LaSalle, Robert Cavalier Sieur de, visited Indian village 

"Arkansae" 7 

Law, John, his colony 9 

Legislature, the first 28 

Libraries, first public 85 

Little Rock, post office at , 24 

Laid off for a town 31 

Dispute over land titles 31 

First sermon at 37 

Name changed to Arkopolis 88 

Made capital 39 

First church house in 43 

Incorporated a town 58 

First theatrical performance 62 

Incorporated a city 64 

David Crockett at 65 

Arsenal begun 68 

Streets lighted by gas 99 

First train to 105 

Captured by Federals 110 

First street railway 125 

Water works in ;___ 143 

Electric lights in 146 



I N D E X— ContiTiued 

Louisiana, named and made possession of France 7 

Louisiana Territory, name changed to Missouri Territory 7 

Loveley, county of, "lost" 47 

Loveley Purchase, history 47 

Manufactures, first cotton factory 97 

Hemphill's salt works 19 

Marquette, Jacques, discovered Indian villages "Arkansae" 6 

Masons, first lodge of.. 29 

Grand lodge organized 77 

Methodism, beginnings of 22 

Medical society, organized 125 

Mexican War, response of Arkansas 86 

Ambrose H. Sevier, peace commissioner 89 

Military Roads, first move to open, etc., 40 

Mining, beginning of coal mining „ 81 

Missouri Compromise, effect on Arkansas 34 

Missouri Territory, how it got the name 21 

New Madrid, earthquake 19 

Newspapers, Arkansas Gazette established 28 

Second newspaper established, Arkansas Herald, 39 

Press Association 128 

Odd Fellows, first lodge of 81 

Grand Lodge organized 92 

Oil, discovered 173 

Penitentiary, established, history 77 

Pike, Albert, his address, opening night of first theatre 80 

Post Offices, Davidsonville, Arkansas Post and Little Rock.... 24 

Presbyterians, beginnings of Church 20 

Press Association, organized 128 

Railroads, first incorporated.. 98 

First trains in and out of Little Rock 105 

Public lands granted Cairo and Fulton 95 

First street railway 125 

Reconstruction, martial law declared 122 

End of 134 

Rose, U. M., Ambassador to the Hague Peace Conference 162 

Saw mill, first in Arkansas Territory 44 

School lands, history of; first attempt to establish public schools.. 51 
Schools, public, established 119 



I N D E X— Continued 

Secession, how Arkansas seceded 101 

Seminary lands, history of grant 45 

Sevier, Ambrose H., peace commissioner to Mexico 89 

Smithsonian Institution, bonds paid 150 

Spanish-American War, Arkansas in 153 

Spain, acquired Louisiana 10 

Traded Louisiana to France 13 

State line, first in Territory 44 

State Capitol, the new, corner stone laid; history of .-. 155 

State, flag-, adopted 165 

State flower, 157 

State house, the old, the Ten Section Land Grant; history of... 57 

State song, adopted 169 

Steamboats, "Comet" at Arkansas Post .— 36 

"Eagle" at Little Rock 40 

St. John's College founded; history of 90 

St. Louis, founder of died at Arkansas Post 11 

Telegraph, first line established 100 

Telephones, first in state 138 

Theatres, first theatrical performance 62 

First professional opened 78 

Tonti, Henri de, founder of first settlement in Arkansas 8 

Tuberculosis Sanitarium, founded 165 

U. D. C, organized 152 

United States, purchased Louisiana 13 

Took formal possession of Louisiana at New Orleans 15 

Upper Louisiana transferred to, at St. Louis 15 

State bonds paid 150 

University of Arkansas, established 126 

Valliere, Don Joseph, commander at Arkansas Post. 12 

War of 1812, bounty lands for soliders of 21 

Washburn, Cephas, preached first sermon at Little Rock 37 

Washington, Arkansas, capital removed to Ill 

Washington Monument, state furnished block of marble for 92 

Water works, first municipal 143 

Weather Bureau, first station established 138 

Western boundary, South of Arkansas river 42 

North of Arkansas river 50 

World War, Arkansas in 169 

Yell, Archibald, at battle of Buena Vista 88 



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